The Way It Should Have Been
by princezsupastar
Summary: She was the defender of the Earth on behalf of the moon. He was her defender. But they never really knew each other, or who the other was. So what would happen if all were revealed sooner than expected? - COMPLETE
1. The Proposal

**THE WAY IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN**

_She was the defender of the Earth on behalf of the moon. He was her defender. But they never really knew each other, or who the other was. So what would happen if all were revealed sooner than expected?_

**WARNING** - THE FOLLOWING STORY CONTAINS SCENES AND LINES FROM THE ENGLISH VERSION OF THE SHOW.

Disclaimer; I do not own any of the Sailor Moon characters (although I'm sure that I would like to). I realize that yes, I am using the original plot and dialogue, which I do not own, but this story is along the lines of the original plot, just that some changes have been made √ and how they have affected the Sailor Moon world we all know and love.

I apologize to those who have been angered and upset over this but if you don't like it, then please don't read.

**EDIT:** I have edited all the previous chapters and FINALLY completed this story after years. If you are just coming across this story now - enjoy!

**THE PROPOSAL**

"Oh! Look at these! Let's go into this shop!" Darien Shields rolled his eyes and groaned quietly so that his raven-haired companion couldn't hear him. "Come on Raye, how many shops do you want to explore? We've only been here for 20 minutes and we've already been in 10 shops." He retorted, a half-hearted grin on his face - although was secretly annoyed. Raye Hino pouted at him. "Going into stores isn't going to kill you Darien." She replied hotly, grabbing onto his right arm and yanking him into the shop forcefully.

Darien groaned again, only this time purposely louder. The whole place was colored in pinks and reds in favor of the upcoming Valentines Day. "Oh, isn't this cute!" Raye exclaimed, holding out a white teddy bear the size of Darien's head. She pressed on his stomach. "I love you!" The small bear said in a sickly sweet voice. Raye cooed before placing the bear back upon the shelf with it's replicas.

She turned to Darien, her eyes shining. "I wonder what you'll give me for Valentines Day." She exclaimed, looking around quickly. Her dark orbs rested on a giant stuffed bear clutching a big red heart with the words 'I love you.' imprinted on it in bold white letters. "I love it!" Raye squealed, looking at Darien intently, who checked the price tag. "20,000 yen! I don't think so." he stated in an annoyed voice, turning around and knocking a girl off her feet and onto the floor. "Sorry!" he exclaimed as he helped her back up.

"Ouch." Replied blonde-haired Serena Tsukino, rubbing her head. It just hadn't been her day. She had fallen down 11 times already, and her head was beginning to feel like it was going to cave in. Not to mention that she looked completely out of place in the highly decorated shop, full of lovey-dovey couples cooing over corny presents and what not. She couldn't even remember what on earth she was doing here in the first place.

"Oh, it's you meatball head." Darien exclaimed, stifling a laugh that stopped abruptly when he noticed that she was clearly not in the mood for his usual antics. "What are you doing here?" he asked suddenly, a serious expression upon his face. She didn't have a boyfriend, did she?

Serena looked up at him, bewildered. Did he just ask her a normal question? Looking around, her cheeks flushed red. "Oh, I was just..well, there's this guy..." She trailed off, obviously embarrassed. Darien sensed that it was for a boy she liked and smiled. "I see. Do you know what he might like?" he asked. Being nice to Serena didn't seem too hard, and he needed a break from being annoyed at Raye, who was too busy pouring over sappy cards to even notice them. He knew it was unusual, especially since Serena was so annoying, but it was hard to mean in a shop such as this one.

Serena scrunched up her nose in thought, and Darien noticed that she seemed a little uncomfortable. Probably because he was being nice to her for a change, he felt slightly awkward as well. Serena looked at Darien, then quickly at the door. "It doesn't matter." she murmured sadly before running through the door and out of sight.

Scratching his head, Darien felt Raye's hands cling to his arm again. "Let's go." Raye said, a tone of annoyance in her voice. As they walked out of the shopping complex and over to the park, Raye suddenly clicked her fingers and pulled Darien to a halt. "I just had the best idea." She exclaimed, her eyes getting a spark that Darien was wary of. "For tomorrow. Valentine's Day. We should have a party!" she squealed excitedly.

Darien raised an eyebrow. "Who's 'we'?" he asked, folding his arms. "My friends! You know, Amy, Lita, Mina and Serena." "Wait, where do I come in to all of this?" Darien didn't like where this was heading. Raye began to blush furiously. "We'll have the party at your place of course." Darien's eyes almost popped out of his head. "WHAT!" he yelled, frightening a few pigeons who flew away. There was no way he was going to have 5 giggling schoolgirls in his apartment.

"Please Darien?"

"No."

"Come on."

"I said no. I don't want my apartment trashed."

"We're not going to trash it. Please?"

"Raye, I.."

"Bloody hell Darien stop being an asshole and get into the spirit!"

Darien stopped at these words to find Raye glaring at him, and he swore that her eyes were turning red. "Fine." He murmured under his breath. Anything to get her off his back. Raye's expression calmed as she smiled happily and threw her arms around him in a hug.

"Thank you!"


	2. Exchange

**EXCHANGE**

"How could I have been so stupid?" Serena murmured to herself. She had gone into the shop Seasons to find a present to give to Tuxedo Mask next time she saw him. But he wouldn't accept it, she was sure of it. He had better things to do than spend time with a silly schoolgirl. Serena sighed. She had no idea who Tuxedo Mask really was, and she was pretty sure that he had no idea who she was either.

Serena broke away from her thoughts and noticed a small white flower on the footpath in front of her. She picked it up, inspected it, then put it in her pocket before her communicator started going off.

"Hey Amy!" Serena answered with a big grin on her face. "Serena, you're needed at Raye's temple. It's Zoicite again." Amy's urgent voice came through. Serena groaned before turning serious. "I'll be right there." She replied, turning off the communicator and placing it back in her pocket. Ducking behind a tree so that no one could see her, Serena raised her right hand in the hair above her head. "Moon Prism Power!"

After transforming into Sailor Moon, she made her way to the Hino temple, which wasn't very far away. As soon as she arrived she heard a familiar voice. "Mercury Bubble Blast!" The air suddenly fogged up, but Moon found her way to a panting Sailor Mercury. "Finally, you're here." Mercury exclaimed to Moon, giving her a faint smile.

"The others aren't too far off." Mercury explained, added by a cry of "Mars Fire Ignite! Stay away from my Grandpa's temple!" "Sailor Mars! Nice to see you!" Moon yelled to her fiery friend. "Yeah, but it interrupted my date with Darien." Mars replied angrily, crossing her arms. "Why do they always have to attack MY temple!"

The air began to clear up and Sailor Jupiter and Sailor Venus joined the other scouts. "Sorry we're late. I had to drag Venus away from Andrew at the arcade." Jupiter explained as Venus scowled. "You mean I had to drag YOU away from Andrew. I was too busy checking out the guy by the window." She retorted as Jupiter's cheeks turned crimson.

"We don't have time for this. We need to vanquish the youma." Mercury nodded towards the youma that looked like a bundle of straw. It was looking around frantically for the girls and then it's eyes rested upon them and it grinned evilly at them.

Moon stepped forward. "How dare you came and try to ruin a place where people come to express their religion. I won't let you destroy it. I am Sailor Moon, defender of love and justice, and on behalf of the moon, I shall punish you!"

The monster laughed. "I have no time for clumsy little girls like you, Sailor Moon." Moon let out a squeal of protest. "I'm not clumsy! I just happen to fall over a lot, that's all!" Moon replied angrily when the youma shot out 5 straw ropes and captured all the scouts, tying them up tightly so they couldn't get lose. The monster began to laugh again as the scouts struggled to get free.

Suddenly a rose went flying through the air and broke Moon's bonds. The youma was injured and the rest of the scouts were set free but fell to the ground in a faint. Moon looked up to the roof of the temple to see a familiar dark figure wearing his trademark hat and cape. "Tuxedo Mask!" she exclaimed happily.

Tuxedo Mask jumped down to Sailor Moon. "Now it's your turn, Sailor Moon!" he yelled to her and she nodded. "Right." Moon grabbed the tiara from her forehead. "Moon Tiara Magic!" she cried out, blasting the creature into moon dust.

"Farewell!" Tuxedo Mask exclaimed before running away to the back of the temple. "Wait!" yelled Moon, chasing him until he stopped at the fishpond behind the temple, waiting for her, a bewildered look on her face. Moon knew it was a weird moment, since she and Tuxedo Mask had never really talked before.

"I just wanted to give you this." She explained, holding out the small white flower she had found before. Mask took it and looked at it in awe. "It's a moonflower." She explained to him as he slipped it into his pocket. "To say thank you for saving me...I mean, us all the time. And for Valentine's Day." Moon's cheeks grew hot and she knew she was blushing again.

"Thank you." Mask replied, giving her a smile. He reached into his coat and pulling out a single red rose. "Here." He said, placing it in her hand. Moon's eyes grew wide. She had one of TUXEDO MASK'S roses. She looked up at him. "Are you sure?" she asked softly, trying not to ruin the moment. "Yes." Mask replied. "Happy Valentines Day."

It was then that Moon noticed how close they were together, and how Mask's lips were only inches away from her own. He seemed to have the same train of thought, because he suddenly leaned down and placed his lips softly upon hers. Moon returned the kiss, never wanting the moment to end. She felt like she could have stayed there forever when soft music echoed around them. They broke apart and Moon looked down to see a small shining item at Mask's feet.

Moon picked it up and held it gently in her hand. It was a small gold locket in the shape of a star. It was open and emitting a beautiful tune that Moon was sure she had heard before. "That's odd." Mask broke the silence between them. "It's never opened before."

Moon held it out to him. "Is this yours?" Mask smiled gently and closed her hand around it. "Keep it." He whispered, before jumping up and disappearing into the night sky. Moon watched him go and sighed happily to herself. Not only had she gotten one of Mask's roses, she had also been kissed by her dream guy. She looked carefully at the rose and noticed two small letters imprinted upon one of the petals.

"P.E?"


	3. Realization

**REALIZATION**

As he ran through the darkness of the city, Tuxedo Mask couldn't help but picture in his mind what had just happened. Did he really just kiss Sailor Moon? It had all happened so fast, his brain was only just beginning to catch up with him and he was beginning to worry about the outcome of his actions. Maybe he had just been caught up in the moment. Whatever the reason was, he had kissed her, and it had felt right. But he still had no idea who she really was.

When he finally reached his apartment, he detransformed back into Darien and flopped down onto his leather couch, his mind racing. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the delicate flower Sailor Moon had given him. Although it was such a small gift and would seem quite insignificant normally, it was beginning to have a huge impact upon him. He had been surprised when she had followed him, and even more surprised when she had presented him with the flower. It had been the first time he had ever really spoken to Sailor Moon outside of battle, and he had been taken by surprise by the flower - and the fact that she seemed to have given it to him for Valentine's Day.

Holding the flower delicately in his hand, Darien took in every detail about it, from the slight pink tinge in the middle of the flower to the star-like shape of its petals. Darien had never seen such a beautiful flower before, and wondered where Moon had got it. A flower for a flower. He wasn't sure if one of his roses was a special enough gift, but Sailor Moon had seemed to be pretty impressed with it. If only Raye was that easy to please, Darien chuckled to himself.

Just as he leaned in to smell the scent of the moonflower, he noticed two small letters that seemed to be imprinted on one of the petals. Seeing the initials stirred up something within him, he realized that he was no stranger to seeing initials on flowers and pulled out one of his own roses and inspected them both.

"P.S? P.E? What the hell do they stand for?" Darien asked himself later as he lay half-asleep on his bed. For the past hour the mystery of the letters had consumed him until he realized that he was way too tired to think properly, and should wait until the morning when he would be well rested. But sleep had failed him, his mind was too busy to let him rest. It was all too coincidental. There had be a special reason for the initials, something he was missing.

"Prince Endymion." called out a soft female voice, the voice that had haunted his dreams for as long as he could remember. He saw her, her silky blond hair moving softly in the wind as she turned around to face him. Her sparkling blue eyes emitted tears, which fell down her cheeks in small rivers to the ground below. The crescent moon upon her forehead shone brighter as she smiled sadly at Darien and reached her hand out to him.

"Princess Serenity." Darien heard himself say as he took the mysterious girl's hand and clasped it between his own. She looked up at him, her crystalline orbs shining. "Find the Imperium Silver Crystal, Prince Endymion. Set me free and then we can be together again!" she pleaded, drifting away from him until she was no longer in his sight. "No! Princess! How do I find it?" Darien called after her but the beautiful princess had disappeared.

"Whoa!" Darien awoke to find himself panting and sweating heavily in the safety of his own bed. "What a dream!" he exclaimed out loud, looking out the window to see the full moon shining through and bathing the room in it's magnificent light. But the dream had never really added up. For starters, Darien was most certainly not a Prince, nor was his name Endymion. Although, he didn't really have a clue what his real name was. But that was beside the point.

Noticing the moonflower and the rose on his bedside table, he picked them up and looked at the rose in the moonlight. The letters seemed to stick out a bit more and suddenly Darien realized something. "P.E! Prince Endymion!" Then he took the moonflower and looked at it as well. "P.S...Princess Serenity.." A thought struck him. His roses had been imprinted with the initials of Prince Endymion, a name he was called by the Moon Princess of his dreams. Did this mean that Endymion was his true name? That he really was a Prince? There was no logical explanation.

He had also had given Sailor Moon a rose with those initials imprinted upon it, while she had given him not only a MOONflower, with the Princess Serenity's initials on it. So if was Prince Endymion with P.E. on his flowers, and Sailor Moon had P.S. on hers, then that could only mean one thing. Darien sat up straight in his bed, his eyes wide with realization.

"Sailor Moon is Princess Serenity!"


	4. Shock Horror

**SHOCK HORROR**

"Come on Serena. It won't be that bad!"

"That bad! Are you kidding? It's DARIEN'S apartment. The guy who just LOVES to annoy me." Came the angry reply.

Ami Minuzo sighed. There was no way she nor the other girls could persuade Serena to go to Darien's place for Raye's Valentine's day party, no matter how hard they tried.

"Look, Serena, there's going to be lots of food there! If you don't go, you'll miss out on Lita's home-made triple fudge brownies!" Raye butted in, her eyebrows knitted together in frustration. Serena's eyelids fluttered as she thought about it. There was no chance she was going to let the other pig out on food without her!

"Well, maybe it won't be so bad. As long as Darien doesn't call me Meatball Head." She replied, and Raye knew she had hit Serena's soft spot – food. Only problem was, she didn't know if Darien would comply with Serena's wishes. Serena didn't think so either. I guess I can put up with him if it means I get to pig out. She thought to herself, letting out a small sigh.

Two hours later the girls found themselves standing outside Darien's apartment door, laden with food, bags and pillows. "Hey guys…I mean, um, girls." Answered Darien as he opened up the door for them. "I was just in the shower." He explained his dripping wet hair.

_I can tell. Mmm, he smells delicious. _Serena thought, grinning to herself. "Hey Meatball head! Glad you came!" Darien laughed as she passed him. Suddenly all the nice thoughts about him left her head as she glared at Raye who gave a small, painful smile.

"Anybody hungry?" called Lita Kino from Darien's kitchen. 'Me!!" yelled Serena, raising her hand up as if she was in school, and Mina Aino, who jumped up and down excitedly, making the others laugh. "Good, because I made a lot of goodies for everyone!" Lita entered the room balancing 6 massive plates on her two arms, full of food.

"Wow Lita! Maybe this party should have been at your house, you make a terrific hostess." Darien told Lita as he helped himself to a chocolate brownie. "Sorry. I just like to take charge." Lita blushed. "No, it's okay, really. You're doing a better job than me, that's for sure."

"Hey Darien, this is for you. Happy Valentines Day." Raye produced a red box in the shape of a heart and gave it to him, as well as a kiss on the cheek. "Um, thanks." Darien ran into the kitchen and returned a few seconds later, clutching a full pack of mints.

"Um, er, Happy Valentines day." He grinned stupidly as Raye raised her eyebrows at the mints in her hand. "thanks." She replied, obviously not thrilled with the gift. 'No worries." Darien replied, as Serena rolled her eyes.

Sighing, she made her way out to the balcony off the living room, which was bathed in moonlight. Everytime she looked at the full moon, a feeling came over her, something that she couldn't explain. It felt like she had a special connection with the moon, but always shrugged it off that it was just because she was the sailor scout of it.

Sensing that she wasn't alone, Serena turned her gaze on the bright lights of Tokyo in front of her. "It's a beautiful view." She stated, glancing behind her to see Darien, who walked up beside her and placed his hands on the railing. "it's definitely something." He agreed, giving a small smile.

"It's like something you'd put on a postcard." Serena added, and Darien chuckled. "You do say the weirdest things, Meatball head." "Stop calling me that I get enough from Raye, I don't need it from you too." Serena retorted, glaring angrily at him. "Ok, I won't say it anymore."

Glancing at Darien's jacket pocket, Serena spotted something that made her heart stop. Something that looked familiar. Too familiar. "What's that?" she dared to ask, pointing at his pocket, trying to hide her horror.

"It's called a moonflower. Someone…special gave it to me." Darien said, gazing at the small flower. 'Who?" Serena asked, not daring to say much more. "A princess." He replied, but Serena wasn't listening to him.

Instead she was looking at him, her face contorted in horror. It couldn't be true. Him? Her most hated enemy? There was no way….but she knew that it was true, there was no explaining it.

"You're….you're Tuxedo Mask."


	5. Memories

MEMORIES

Darien was too busy gazing at the moonflower and thinking about it's mystery to even notice what Serena had just said. Suddenly, something clicked in his mind and he turned to look at Serena and noticed the way she was staring at him, her eyes wide with bewilderment. He couldn't understand what had just happened, or why she was looking at him like that.

"What's up?" he asked, a worried look upon his face. Serena raised her crystalline orbs to meet Darien's. "You're Tuxedo mask." Serena repeated, this time calmer as she continued to watch him. Darien took a step backwards, his eyes wide as his head began swimming with thoughts. How on Earth did she know that? What part of the conversation had he missed that had caused her to come to such a conclusion?

"What... what do you mean?" he tried to act innocent, his sapphire blue eyes turning away to the city. The look on Serena's face was one he had never seen before, and almost scared him. "Don't you dare kid with me. I know who you are, you can't hide that from me." The seriousness in Serena's voice startled Darien before she reached into her own jacket, pulled out a rose and continued to watch him.

"Wha..? How..did...you..." Darien was lost for words. Not only did the red rose look familiar, but he was certain that it was one of his roses. But he how on Earth had Serena gotten it? He only used the roses for attacking, and they were normally destroyed. He didn't hand them out, except for the other night, when he had handed one to a very special person...

He moved closer to her again, his mind going crazy and he realized what this meant. "You're Sailor Moon, aren't you." Darien said in a soft voice, watching her in amazement. Serena was Sailor Moon? He could finally connect the dots, and now that he knew the truth, he realized how it had been staring him in the face.

A tear rolled down Serena's face as she watched him figure it all out, her own mind going a hundred miles an hour. Cranky old Darien, her dream hunk? This was certainly going to take some adjusting to. Wiping the tear away with her hand, Serena turned to look at Darien. "I never thought I would find out that you.." she broke off, words failing her.

This was all too much for Darien. Gripping the rail with both of his hands, he let out a sigh. "What does this mean?" he asked, looking at Serena, who still had tears down her face. "I... I kissed you the other night." he added, his mind returning to that very night. He had kissed Serena, the last person on Earth he would have willingly kissed. He found Serena annoying, but Sailor Moon had been different.

"This is going to change everything between us." Darien turned back to Serena. Everything had been so carefree before, with Darien enjoying teasing Serena every now and then. But now their relationship had taken on a completely different aspect. He didn't have feelings for Serena, but did for Sailor Moon. So what did they mean now? That he did in fact have feelings for Serena after all?

"Of course this will." She answered, avoiding his eyes. "I've had a crush on Tuxedo Mask for so long... and now that I found out that you're Tuxedo Mask..." she trailed off. This was all too majorly confusing. Raye was the one who crushed on Darien, certainly not Serena. And when her relationship with Tuxedo Mask had developed so much that he had kissed her.

"But..." she continued, her thoughts still racing, and Darien turned to her, still holding the moonflower. "You said a...princess gave it to you. But I gave it to you. And I'm not a princess." Darien sighed in reply. How on Earth was he going to explain of all of this to Serena, that she was in fact the Moon Princess that they had all been trying to find for so long?

Taking her hands in his, he smiled gently at her. "But you see, Sailor Moon is the Moon Princess." Serena stared back at him in horror. "That's impossible." she whispered back. Darien handed her the moonflower and pointed at the initials. "They spell P.S. That stands for Princess Serenity, the name of the Moon Princess. Serenity is your real name, and I'm guessing that is what Serena is short for." Darien watched as Serena tried to piece together everything she had just been told. "But I found initials on the rose too." She replied. "P.E, but I don't know what that stands for. Besides, your name doesn't even start with an E."

"Prince Endymion." Darien replied. "That's my real name. Or rather, my past name." The air surrounding them began to glow and the image of Serena and Darien, in different clothes, in a different place, and in a different time, went through their minds. "That... that was us?" Serena whispered after a moment, staring up at Darien who was looking back at her.

Before he could understand what he was doing, Darien pulled Serena towards him, leaned down and placed his lips on hers. Serena seemed taken back for a moment, but then Darien felt her lips press against his own, the passion between them somehow intensifying with each passing second. Suddenly, they heard quick footsteps, and then the door slammed.

"What on earth do you think you're doing!?"


	6. Refusal

**REFUSAL**

Serena and Darien broke apart to see Raye standing in front of them, her eyes angry. Serena froze. Raye was furious, which was never a good thing. But Serena could understand why - after all, she was kissing one of her best friend's boyfriend. Darien seemed stunned as well, and there was silence, except for Raye's angry panting.

"I've got to go." Serena pushed Darien away from her, taking one last look at him, her eyes brimmed with tears and confusion before she looked away. Not making eye contact with Raye as she walked past her, Serena grabbed her bag and made her way to the kitchen where Ami, Lita and Mina were happily chatting, unaware of what had just happened. They noticed Serena and gave her smiles, but she had no words. Giving them a brief nod, she walked out of Darien's apartment and began to run home.

Tears streaming down her face, she finally made it home. But just as she ran up the driveway, her toe got stuck in a crack and she fell over. "Fu….Jesus!" she yelled before getting up and limping to the door. Once inside she made her way upstairs to her bedroom, to find her two guardian cats, Luna and Artemis, asleep on her bed. They had decided against going to Darien's apartment, instead deciding to stay home and have a well needed cat-nap.

As Serena slammed her bedroom door, the loud sound awoke the cats. "Ow Serena!" Artemis exclaimed, rubbing his ears with his paws and looking rather annoyed. Artemis loved cat-naps, and especially did not like being woken up at all. Luna, on the otherhand, took one look at Serena's face and knew that something was up. She jumped off the bed and over to where Serena stood. "Serena? What's wrong? Why aren't you with the others?" Luna asked as Serena sank to the floor next to them.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She demanded at the cats, her eyes shining as the cats stared back in her in bewilderement. "I can't handle all this." Serena cried, burying her face in her hands. "Tell you what?" Luna replied, brushing up against Serena's leg. "That I'm a princess! Not only that, but Princess Serenity? The Moon Princess we have been trying to find for so long now?" Serena exclaimed, looking at Luna, who looked at Artemis. "We didn't think it was the right time." replied Artemis carefully, trying to figure out the best way to handle the situation.

Serena became more upset. "When would have been the right time? To let me know that we were searching for someone who is sitting right here?" Luna looked at the ground. She could understand why Serena was upset, but she and Artemis had thier reasons for not revealing anything to the scouts yet. "Do the others know?" Artemis asked, his brows furried as he tried to think.

Serena shook her head and gave a sniff. "No. Only Darien and I know about this." Luna's ears pricked up. "Darien? That mean guy in the green jacket?" she questioned Serena, who nodded. "He's the one who figured it all out. I also found out that he's actually Tuxedo Mask." Luna's red orbs widened. It had certainly been a night for poor Serena, who often had problems dealing with so much at one time.

"Now we need to find the Imperiam Silver Crystal more than ever, so that Princess Serenity can fulfill her duties and defeat the Negaverse!" Artemis interuppted, looking at Luna who nodded slowly before turning back to Serena. "He's right. We have to prepare for the fight. All of the scouts together."

Serena sighed. This was the last thing she wanted to think about right now. "Count me out. I don't wanna fight." She murmured through her hands that were still covering her face. "You don't really mean that! You're the leader of the Sailor Scouts! Wee need you!" Artemis protested. "I don't care. Somebody else can do it." Serena replied wearily.

"Come on Serena. It's your destiny, you're the one." Luna added, looking up at her. "I am not! I mean, I can't even handle being Sailor Moon and now I'm the moon Princess too? I can't deal with this." Serena's outburst made the cats retreat but their determination did not die down.

"You're just tired. You need some time to let it all sink in." Luna said calmly, moving forward towards Serena, but moved quickly when Serena stood up angrily. "I don't wanna let it all sink in! I just wanna be a normal teenager! Can't any of you understand that?"

Serena collapsed again, the pain in her knee began to increase. Lifting up a skirt, she saw why. Her knee was bleeding and looked like it was grazed. "Oh crap." She exclaimed angrily and began to hobble downstairs to the kitchen to get Band-Aids.

A few minutes later she re-appeared, her knee now covered with Band-Aids but she was still limping. Luna and Artemis watched her as she passed them and collapsed onto her bed. Silence filled the room until Serena finally spoke.

"I just don't think I can do any of this. I can't even get through one day without injuring myself." Serena whispered, rolling over before wincing in pain because of her knee. "I know you can do it. I believe in you." Replied Luna, her red orbs shining.

"You can do it."


	7. End it

**END IT**

After Serena had left, Darien was left alone to face the furious Raye all by himself. He braced himself for impact. "How could you? And on Valentine's day!" she screamed at him, her face turning red and tears running down her cheeks. Darien could understand her anger, but Raye looked incredibly upset. He had never considered that he and Raye had an actual relationship, but that they just went on a few dates. Darien let her get it all out of her system before daring to speak.

"Raye, our relationship wasn't what you thought it was. It was nothing but a silly school-girl crush." He winced, not meaning to sound so cruel, but he had no other way to put it. "I'm sorry that I kissed Serena, especially in front of you, but believe me, there's a good reason why." Darien added, trying not to let on anything else. He thought that it would be better for Serena to explain, as she was Raye's good friend. And Darien did not want to upset Raye any further.

"Oh yeah, and what's that?" Raye's voice was menacing, but Darien could hear the hurt. He sighed and turned his back on her to face the city instead. He just couldn't stand the look on Raye's face. "I'm not sure I'm the one that should be telling you that." He replied softly, looking down. He could hear a sniff from behind him but still kept his back to her. "Fine." Raye mumbled, turning back to the kitchen where her friends were still standing, looks of bewilderment on thier faces as they watched Raye approach them.

"What on Earth happened?" Lita asked Raye, who kept her head bowed. "First Serena leaves without saying anything, and now you..." Mina added, before realizing that they weren't going to get much out of Raye.

"Maybe we should go." Ami announced, nudging Mina, who nodded. "Yeah. I'm tired." She added as Ami, Lita and herself went to to collect their bags. Raye made her way back to the balcony, where Darien was still looking out at the city. She moved up behind him. "Happy Valentine's day, Darien." She whispered before going back inside and also getting her own bag.

When he heard the front door slam, Darien let out a shaky breath. "What a night." He exclaimed, enjoying the cold night breeze as his mind began to swim. He stood out there for a while, before going inside and settling down on his couch. "If Serena's Sailor Moon, then...Raye is Mars, Ami is Mercury, Lita is Jupiter so Mina is Venus." he murmured in awe as things became clear to him. He slapped his hand to his forehead. So that's how they all met and became such good friends! He thought, and laughed at how obvious it was.

Darien only wished that Raye had not been hurt. He was still trying to understand why he had kissed Serena again, especially knowing that she was Serena. Did he have feelings for her, or were they just his feelings for Sailor Moon pushing him to do such a thing? He lay his head on the back of the couch, closing his eyes as he continued to think. Everything was going to change after tonight. He was certain about that.

"Nice place, Darien."

Darien opened his eyes and shot up to see a massive image of Zoicite on his television screen.

"How did you find me?" His eyes were wide with horror. What on Earth was going on?

"You didn't think you could hide forever, did you, Tuxedo Mask?"

Darien grinned. So they had finally found him. "What do you want, Zoicite?"

"You and I both tired of chasing after the rainbow crystals, so I propose a duel. You and me, winner take all."

Darien raised an eyebrow. "I don't believe you." This sounded all too fishy.

"Oh I'm serious! What's the matter Darien? Scared to fight me without your Sailor pals along? Is that it?"

Darien scoffed in reply. "I'm not afraid of you or anyone from your world."

"Good. Then meet me at the Starlight Tower at 5 o'clock tommorow afternoon. Come alone and bring all the rainbow crystals with you."

"Right I'll be there."

With a laugh, Zoicite's image disappeared from the television and Darien looked out the window with a wince as the sunlight began to stream through.

"Starlight Tower at five."


	8. Aftermath

**AFTERMATH**

Serena awoke the next morning with a yawn and felt a wash of uneasiness overcome her. Memories of the previous night came flooding back as Serena groaned and hid her face in her pillow. She just wanted to go back to sleep and forget everything. And she couldn't face the scouts, not today. She rolled over and closed her eyes. Maybe the cats wouldn't have noticed that she was really awake, and leave her alone.

"Serena? Its time to get up for school." Luna purred, coming up beside her and prodding her with a paw. "Can't I just sleep for a few more minutes?" Came Serena's muffled reply. "You say that every morning." Artemis added, stretching before joining Luna in her quest to fully awake Serena. "I don't want to go to school today." Luna rolled her eyes. "You say that too." she replied.

There was no reply, and silence filled the room before a faint tinkling was heard in Serena's bag. She shot up, knocking the two cats onto the floor and stumbled over to the bag, pulling out the locket which Tuxedo Mask had given to her two nights previously and watched it play.

"What's that?" Luna inquired, standing up off the floor and making her way over to Serena. She looked intently at the golden locket which was still playing its music. "It seems... familiar." Said Artemis, looking deep in thought as he listened to the haunting tune. "Tuxedo.. Darien gave this to me. A few nights ago" Serena whispered, turning to face the two cats. "Darien...he's not just Tuxedo Mask. He's Prince Endymion. Does that name ring a bell?" She asked the cats, who merely stared at her in shock.

The two cats did not reply to Serena's question. Their mutual feeling was that the secrets of the past were being revealed too soon. Both feared that the mission would be in jeopardy, that the Princess and Prince would be doomed once more, which is the last thing they wanted. They weren't sure how much more information they could reveal to Serena, and they weren't sure how many memories she had regained either.

But neither of them had to give an answer as Serena stood up. "No, I'm not going to let this consume me. I have to get on with my daily life." She exclaimed, a determinated look crossing her face as she closed the locket and stopped the music. She went over to her bedside table and opened the top draw, placing the locket inside. She then grabbed her school uniform and quickly left the room.

Luna turned to Artemis. "This is bad."

"Not necessarily. This may be a good thing."

"But how so? Serena could be easily distracted by this knowledge and the mission..."

"But it's good that she knows. Maybe she can find a way to trigger Princess Serenity and find the crystal, ending all this madness and defeating the Negaverse!"

Luna sighed. Artemis always seemed to see things on the bright side, but he seemed more concerned with the mission, rather than Serena herself. "Maybe you're right." she bowed her head. "Besides, there's a not much we can do about it now. All we can do is hope that she focuses more on her scout duties and the mission then on Endymion." Her mind returned to the last day of the Moon Kingdom. Luna was going to do everything in her power to not let the past repeat itself.

Her train of thought was interrupted by a wailing Serena as she re-entered the room, looking more like her usual self as she grabbed her school bag. 'Oh no I'm gonna be late! Miss Haruna is going to kill me!" She sped down the stairs, thankful that she did not slip. She waved goodbye to her parents and her younger brother Sammy before grabbing her lunch and running out the door, almost forgetting to put on her shoes.

Once Serena was fully ready she made her way towards the school, and a few meters ahead she saw her best friend Molly and ran to catch up. "Why, hey there Serena!" Molly exclaimed happily as Serena slowed down her pace and caught her breath. "Man am I wiped out, and it's still early morning!" The pair laughed and turned the corner to face the school."Sometimes I really think I..." Serena trailed off, a familiar face catching her eye.

She kept her eyes on Darien, who was further down the street, before he looked up and noticed Serena, experiencing the same shock as her. Serena stood rooted to the ground, not taking her eyes of Darien, as he kept his eyes on her. Molly noticed that Serena had stopped talking and followed Serena's gaze to a guy down the street, who was looking back at Serena, the exact same expression on his face.

"Serena... are you okay?" Serena's trance was broken and she hastily broke eye-contact with Darien, who turned into a side-street and disappeared. Serena suddenly got chills and shook them off, before turning to Molly who had a questioning look on her face.

"Serena, who is that guy?"


	9. Identity

_Alright guys, I have returned - this time with ALL the remaining chapters except for the last - so I can hype it up a bit. I am sorry for not updating sooner, but life has been fairly busy and my notes had gone missing for a considerable time. But now that they have returned to me I have finally completed this story and now I am concentrating on writing my other stories. So please read and enjoy, and remember that reviews make my day. The more reviews, the quicker the last chapter will be posted. :D_

**IDENTITY**

"Serena!"

Darien awoke with a gasp, covered in sweat. He had found it hard to sleep, with his mind going over the events of the night repeatedly. First finding out about Serena, and then being tracked down by the Negaverse. He wasn't sure how he was going to cope with it all. Everything had happened so quickly, and Darien wasn't sure how his mind was going to cope. Laying back down on his bed, he looked out the window to see a beam of sunlight coming through. So he wasn't just Darien Sheilds anymore, he was a former Prince from thousands of years ago. It had been bad enough when he had lost his parents and had amnesia when he was younger, but just as he had thought he had figured out his identity, this all had to happen.

Sitting up and stretching out his arms with a yawn, he contemplated his evening meeting with Zoicite. He knew something had to be up, theres no way she would be willing to do a fair trade. But if he was going to find out just what the Negaverse was planning, he would have to go, regardless of what could happen.

After having a well-needed cool shower and getting dressed, Darien knew that he would have to get prepared, in any way he could. Grabbing his favorite green jacket, he headed outside and checked his watch. He had slept in considerably late, it was almost nine already.

Lost in his thoughts, he hadn't noticed where he was heading until he heard a gasp coming from a few metres away. He looked up to see Serena, in her school uniform, looking at him with wide eyes, and Darien knew he was mirroring her exact same expression of surprise. Suddenly Serena's friend distracted her momentarily, and Darien took his chance to escape, heading down a side street quickly before she could notice.

He just wasn't ready to face her, not yet. He had to get his head around things before he could even be able to understand what on earth was going on. He knew he had a lot of questions, and Serena probably did too. He knew he couldn't keep on avoiding her like this, but it wasn't the time, nor the place.

He found himself outside of Raye's temple, and walked up the stairs. He was hoping Raye would be at school now, as he just didn't want to face her right now either. After wandering around for a few minutes, he saw Raye's Grandpa coming towards him. Had Raye told him what had happened? Was he going to give Darien a piece of his mind? Sure, he was quite short and not very intimidating, but Darien was still worried.

"I know you. You are one of Raye's friends, yes?" Grandpa called out, a smile on his face, taking Darien by surprise.

"Oh, uh, yes. My name's Darien."

"Nice to see you again, Darien. Now tell me, what is on your mind?"

Darien turned his head quickly to look at the old man. How on earth did he know something was up?

"Have you ever felt like... one minute you know who you were, and then the next you have completely no idea?" He knew he sounded crazy, but he was being honest.

"Me? All the time! Comes with age." Raye's Grandpa gave Darien a big grin. "But I know deep down in my heart who I am."

Darien returned the smile. "Thank you, sir. You've been very helpful."

"Good luck." The old man called out, heading off towards the temple, leaving Darien to his thoughts. Maybe he was just over complicating things. Maybe if he stopped thinking about it so hard, he would find the answer. But he was too tired to think about anything right now, and decided to return to his apartment to have a nap before heading to the Starlight Tower.

Reaching his apartment, Darien collapsed on his bed, closing his eyes and instantly falling asleep.

A few hours later, Darien's eyes reopened and he gave a small yawn. He certainly felt a lot better, and his eyes didn't hurt as much as earlier. But how long had he slept for? He reached for his watch and gasped when he saw the time. Four o'clock already? He'd slept in much later than he'd anticipated. Standing up, he made sure he had everything he needed before heading outside.

Running out of the apartment block, he had only gone a few meters before colliding with another person. "Why do you always run into me?" Darien looked up to see the last person on earth he wanted to talk to right now. Serena stood up and brushed off her skirt, looking rather awkward and unsure of something. "Actually Darien, I wanted to talk to you..."

Darien also stood up, watching her warily as he did so before sighing. "I'm sorry Serena. I have to go." And with that, he was off again, this time making sure he wasn't about to run into anyone again, hearing a faint yell behind him.

"Darien!"


	10. Confrontation

**CONFRONTATION**

"Serena?"

"Buh?" Serena replied, coming out of her thoughts to see Molly looking at her with a peculiar look on her face.

"Wow, you must have really been out of it. The last bell has rung and you're not even out of your seat yet!"

Serena yawned and looked outside. Was school really over already? Normally she was off daydreaming in class anyway, but today was different. She hadn't been aware of anything. Her mind was too busy, revisiting the previous night's events and trying to make sense of it all. And seeing Darien this morning hadn't helped much either, she was sure that he was probably going through the same thing. She'd seen it in his eyes, the confusion that was mirrored in hers.

"See Serena? You're doing it again!"

Serena snapped out of it this time, and have her friend an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry Molly, I've just had a lot on my mind lately."

Molly sighed. "I can tell. Anything you want to tell me?"

Serena hesitated. There had been countless times that she had wanted to tell Molly everything, but that was the last thing she needed right now. "No, it's alright. Thanks anyway." Molly looked down at the floor, and Serena felt a pang of guilt. Molly was her best friend, and had been ever since they were little. Serena used to be able to tell her absolutely everything, and keeping her secret identity to herself had been difficult, especially with Molly's past involvement with Nephrite. She knew that one day she would be able to reveal everything, but it was not going to be today.

She grabbed her bag and stood up, with Molly following suite. "So, uh, what exactly did I miss in class today?" Serena asked, trying to shake the tension. Molly gave her a smile in reply. "Not much really, just some maths, and Melvin continuing to upstage Miss Haruna. You should have seen her! She got so angry with him."

Serena gave a small laugh, but her mind was somewhere else. Before she knew it, they were standing outside of the school gates. "Well, I'm off, but remember, you can talk to be about anything, okay Serena?" Molly told her, a look of worry on her face. "I know. And thanks, Molly." she gave her a reassuring smile, but wasn't sure how convincing it was. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Molly nodded her head, and bounded off down the road.

Serena headed in the opposite direction, remembering that there was a scouts meeting scheduled for that afternoon. But she wasn't sure if she could face Raye yet, not without talking to Darien at at her watch, she decided to make a quick detour to Darien's apartments. Even if it would make her a little bit late to the meeting, that was the norm for Serena, and her friends knew it.

She walked at a fast pace, keeping her head down as she went over her thoughts one last time. What would she say to him? What did he know? How did he feel about everything? Serena sighed. He probably knew as much as she did. Still, they at least needed to talk about what had gone on between them. But before Serena could think about that, she walked into a moving object and was knocked onto her backside on the sidewalk.

Squinting in pain, she looked up to see the very person she wanted to see. "Why do you always run into me?" she retorted out of habit, before getting to her feet and brushing of her skirt. Darien also stood up, watching her with a peculiar look on his face as she tried to think of what to say next.

"Actually Darien, I wanted to talk to you..." she started, but not before Darien's sigh broke her concentration.

"I'm sorry Serena. I have to go." he replied, before racing off again in the direction she had come. "Darien!" she yelled after him, upset about what had just happened. She was determined to get to the bottom of this. "You're not getting out of this that easily." she growled before running after him, making sure to steer clear of obstacles and other people. The last thing she needed was to fall over again.

After half an hour of non-stop running, Serena slowed to a stop. She had never run this much before, even if she did a lot of running - away, mostly - but she could feel a stitch in her stomach and wasn't sure how much further she could go.

Suddenly she saw a dark figure before her, standing near the Starlight Tower. Could it be Darien? She moved closer, trying to make sense of what was going on. Why was he here? What was so important here that he couldn't talk to her earlier? As she slowly approached him, the air suddenly became thick and everything turned red.

"Darien, what's going on?"


	11. Duel

**NOTE: **_Yes, I am aware that this is following the episode 'A Crystal Clear Destiny'. But I am hoping you have read the prologue of this story. Enjoy!_

**DUEL**

He was here. Now what? Was he supposed to just wait here, or go inside and meet Zoicite there?

Darien was beginning to grow nervous, and the rainbow crystals in his pocket seemed heavier then ever. His mind kept wandering to Serena, but he shook those thoughts off, knowing that he had to keep on his toes.

He was about to walk into the tower when a ball of red energy came from the top of the tower and engulfed Darien. "Darien, what's going on?" came a small voice from behind him and he turned quickly, horrified to see Serena looking very scared. "Serena! Why did you follow me?" Darien yelled back furiously. This was the last thing he needed. What if something happened to her? She was Sailor Moon, after all, and if the Negaverse knew Darien's identity, then surely they knew Serena's. By following him, she had now put herself in danger, and Darien had no idea how bad it was going to be. But before Serena could reply to his question, the red energy formed into a ball around them, and everything went black.

"Hello Darien. Hoped you enjoyed the ride." "Huh?" Darien opened his eyes and sat up. Where was he? He saw Serena lying beside him, her eyes still closed. "Serena?" he called softly, nudging her shoulder, but the blond's eyes remained closed. He then realized they were not alone, and turned to see Zoicite standing across the room, a sly smile on her lips. Of course. He should have known that this was her doing.

Zoicite moved forward, a thin white bag in her hands. "I hope you've held up your end of the bargain. I brought all five of our rainbow crystals." She gave him another sly grin before laying the contents of the bag onto the marble floor. Five brightly shining crystals lay there as Zoicite moved backwards. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

Darien eyed her carefully. This was all too easy. "No matter what, you let the girl go." he replied, looking at Serena. Zoicite hadn't mentioned her at all, so hopefully her identity was still safe from the Negaverse. "Don't worry, we have no interest in her." Zoicite answered, and Darien breathed a sigh of relief. She would be safe, and that's all that mattered.

He reached into his pocket and brought out his own two crystals. "Alright, here they are. Ready when you are." Darien placed his crystals with the others, with all seven crystals brightening up the room. He stood his ground, poised and ready, but Zoicite made no movement. "What are we waiting for?" he asked, but Zoicite merely laughed in reply. Dread filled Darien as he watched her. "What's so funny?"

Zoicite threw him an evil grin. "You humans you never learn. You're so innocent." Within seconds, Malachite appeared out of nowhere, landing beside the crystals. Darien began to realize just what he had gotten himself into. "You double crossed me!" He yelled out in frustration. "Whats he doing here?" he pointed a finger at the smug Malachite, who suddenly grabbed the crystals and made them disappear. "Someones got to hold the crystals during your duel." he replied calmly, giving a small shrug with his shoulders.

"Are you backing out on me?" Darien accused Zoicite, glaring at her. "Not a chance. We're having this duel. I've been looking forward to this for a long while." she replied, her smug smile disappearing momentarily as she glared at him. "Zoisite, remember our orders." Malachite turned to face her, a warning look on is face. Orders? Darien was confused. "I will." Zoicite replied, making Darien even more frustrated.

"And what were those." Darien pulled a rose from his jacket and flung it at Malachite, who promptly disappeared, causing the rose to scratch the side of Zoicite's face instead, which made her furious. "Aargh, my face." She clutched her cheek with both hands.

Unknown to both Darien and Zoicite, Serena awoke and rubbed her eyes, trying to remember what had happened and where she was. Suddenly everything rushed back into her mind and she gasped softly at seeing Zoicite, knowing that she wouldn't be able to transform in front of her without revealing her real identity. But Darien was standing in front of Serena, in a pose of defense which confused her. Where they just after him, and not Sailor Moon?

"I want those crystals back here now. Winner takes all, remember?" Darien shouted at Zoicite, which made Serena sit up even straighter. Crystals? Was he talking about the rainbow crystals? Where had they gone? Had Zoicite taken them all? Serena was too confused.

"Get them back here." Darien added in a demanding voice, and Serena could tell that he was very angry. But Zoicite looked at the blood on her gloves from her cheek before glaring at him. "You've hurt my face and you're going to pay for it." Darien stood back, preparing himself. But then Zoicite faded into nothing, her voice still booming around the room. "If you want those crystals, I'll be on the roof. You've got two minutes and if you don't show, I'll assume that you're no longer interested in the rainbow crystals."

Serena stood up and moved towards Darien, who looked down at her, his face unreadable. Without warning, the room became very cold, and everything began to be covered in ice, and large icicles appeared to he hanging down from the ceiling. Serena looked up at Darien in panic. ""Well Darien, I hope you and your little friend, are good runners." Zoicite's voice boomed around the room once more before one of the large icicles above Serena snapped off and headed straight for her.

"Serena!"


	12. Reveal

**REVEAL**

"Serena!"

Serena looked up and gasped, when suddenly she was knocked onto the ground by Darien, with the icicle shattering near her feet. Breathing heavily, they both stood up and realized that they were no longer safe in the room. Serena looked desperately around, trying to find a way out. Another icicle broke near them, this one smashing through the floor. "Run!" yelled Darien, pushing Serena in one direction. As they ran, Serena looked at Darien, her mind racing. She didn't understand why they were coming after Darien, but not her. Surely she was their number one enemy? Her thoughts were interrupted when another icicles crashed loudly behind them "Someone get me out of here!" Serena wailed as she continued to run.

"To the elevator!" Darien called out to her, as the elevator doors suddenly came into vision. As they reached them, Serena pushed the button quickly. "Aren't you supposed to take the stairs in an emergency?" she retorted in frustration. "What stairs?" Darien replied as the doors opened with a 'ping'. "Come on, hurry." he ushered Serena into the elevator as the floor beneath them began to crumble and the doors closed. Serena breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, that was close." Darien however, was still tense. "Not over yet." he replied, looking around the elevator warily.

Suddenly the both heard a rumble and the elevator began to turn green and pulsate. Serena moved closer to Darien, a frightened look coming across her face as she watched the walls. "Whats that? Whats happening?" she cried out. Without warning the elevator doors faded and disappeared, and Darien knew they were trapped. He looked at Serena, who was staring at the wall where the doors were in horror. "Don't worry Serena, I wont let anything happen to you." he gave her a reassuring smile before proceeding to the window and watching the elevator rise above the city.

The elevator continued to rise as Serena joined Darien to look out the window. "This elevator is taking so long! It's like slow torture," she stated, but Darien didn't respond, and continued to stare out the window. She had so many questions for Darien, but decided to ask the most obvious one. "Darien, why are you after the rainbow crystals?" she turned to face him, watching him as he sighed before replying. "I want to know who I am."

Serena watched him in awe. She had only recently found out who he was. He was Darien, Tuxedo Mask, and even a Prince! But then again, being all three people would cause anyone to have an identity crisis, and she could slightly understand where he was coming from.

"My whole life, I've never really known who I am, or where I come from. I mean, I'm not even sure if my real name is Darien." he gave Serena a sad smile. "My parents and I were in a really terrible car crash when I was really young. My parents didn't survive, and I just barely made it."

"The doctors said that I had amnesia, and no known relatives. So they arranged for me to live in an orphanage. I couldn't remember what had happened, or even who I was. But for some reason I remembered the name Darien, and assumed that it was my name. I lived at the orphanage until I was old enough to get a job. It never bothered me much, 'til I kept having this reoccurring dream about a princess, who was waiting for me. She kept begging me to bring her the Imperium Silver Crystal. I always thought she could tell me who I am."

He turned to Serena. "But now I know everything. The princess from my dreams, was Princess Serenity. Which means you." Serena stared back at him with wide eyes. She didn't know anything. "You're the key, to help me figure out who I am. Once I get the Imperium Silver Crystal, that is." Darien looked out the window. "Which is what has brought us here. Zoicite and I will duel, and when I win she has no choice but to hand me all seven of the rainbow crystals. I'm sure that they will help my find the Imperium Silver Crystal."

Serena looked out the window. She was at a loss for words. The look in Darien's eyes had been so hopeful, but what if he was wrong? She didn't know if she really was Princess Serenity, after all, she had picked up the flower from somewhere else. And what if Darien didn't win the duel, and the Negaverse found the silver crystal. Serena shook her head in an attempt to change her thoughts. She had to keep on thinking positive. "Well, I'm glad you told me." she said after a while, giving Darien a warm smile. "Must be hard, not knowing who you are." she added, crooking her head to the side.

Darien returned the smile. "I get clues." he told her, before returning his gaze to the window. He had just told Serena everything, and placed all of his hope in her. Now all he had to do was get the rainbow crystals back and find the Imperium Silver Crystal.

The elevator suddenly jolted and came to a halt, sending panic through both Serena and Darien. "We're stopping! Now what, Darien?" Serena turned to him, her deep blue orbs wide with fear. Darien shook his head slightly. He had no idea what was going on, but had a bad feeling about it. He suspected that this was Zoicite's doing, playing games with him instead of just dueling him. This wasn't being fair, but he had never really expected her to play fair. After all, she was Zoicite.

A loud explosion came from overhead, and a large blast of fire came down the elevator, heading straight towards them. Darien let out a yell of surprise. This wasn't what was supposed to happen! "Look Darien, fire!" Serena exclaimed, feeling panicked and scared. She looked at Darien, who seemed just as frightened and worried as she was, and then she knew what she had to do.

"Moon Prisim Power!"


	13. Closer

**CLOSER**

"Such a pity."

At the top of the tower, Zoicite laughed as a cloud of smoke erupted from the top of the elevator shaft. Her plan had worked perfectly. Not only had she roped Tuxedo Mask into giving her the rest of the rainbow crystals, he had given her the opportunity to get rid of him, once and for all. Although she knew that Queen Beryl had ordered her to keep Tuxedo Mask alive, she knew that they were better off without him, and would make the scouts more vulnerable and easier to defeat. "I'll just tell Beryl it was an accident. She won't mind with all seven crystals."

"Hold it!"

Zoicite spun around, trying to see through the smoke. "Who's that?"

"Takes more than a measly fireball to get rid of Sailor Moon, you slime-meister, you should know that after all this time." A familiar voice called and the smoke cleared to reveal Sailor Moon, the last person Zoicite had expected, with Darien standing behind her. Sailor Moon struck her favorite pose. "I am Sailor Moon, enemy of the Negaverse!" she pointed a finger at Zoicite. "And that means you."

Zoicite simply gave her a smug smile. This was all too perfect. "How ironic, it isn't you that I want, but your pal Tuxedo Mask." she replied with a laugh, but Sailor Moon did not falter. "Give me a break, he's not even here, Zoicite." Moon retorted, trying to protect Darien. Maybe she could fool Zoicite into thinking that Darien was just a normal person, but he apparently wasn't thinking along the same lines. "Yes I am!" Darien exclaimed, stepping forward.

Moon turned to face him, pulling an agitated face. "You are?" she said in a dead tone, knowing that her plan had failed, and now it was all in Darien's hands. He just smiled at her and pulled out a rose from his jacket, before holding it above his head and beginning to glow. Now it was his turn to transform. Moon watched him as Darien became Tuxedo Mask, and felt the familiar blush cross her face. There was her dream hunk, not cranky old Darien. She still couldn't believe that they were the same person.

Mask turned to Moon. "You should get out of here Sailor Moon. This fight doesn't concern you." The last thing he wanted was for Moon to get hurt, and so he was trying to get her to leave. "Course it concerns me, are you kidding?" Moon retorted, and Mask gave her a smile in defeat. There was typical Serena, and although he had been hoping she would leave, he somehow knew she was going to stay with him. Moon moved closer to him, a determined look on her face. "If we can stick together, we can beat them." Her eyes looked up at him, shining. "Lets do it."

Mask pulled her closer. "Sailor Moon, I've got to earn those crystals." he told her softly, taking his last chance to save her. Moon saw the truth in his eyes and sighed in defeat. "I know, so you can find your princess." she replied, looking away. Mask smiled. "I've found her, but I need to find the Imperium Silver Crystal for her." Moon still couldn't look at him, she couldn't bear to see the hope in his eyes.

Zoicite interrupted them. "So, Tuxedo Mask, you still interested in fighting for those rainbow crystals, or not?" she asked, playing with a strand of her hair. Mask grinned at her. "You know I am, but you've got to guarantee a fair fight and Sailor Moon's safety first." He knew it was a long shot but he was all out of options at this point.

"Of course, I wouldn't have it any other way." Zoicite replied, but Mask was still on his guard. There was something in Zoicite's eyes that just didn't seem right, but Zoicite interrupted his train of thought. "Well then come on! Lets get it over with." she exclaimed, her eyes shining brightly - too brightly, in Mask's opinion. "You're on." he replied, before her eyes grew wide and the most evil smile Mask had ever seen grew on Zoicite's lips, and he knew that something was wrong. He turned to Sailor Moon, who was looking bewildered, and that's when he saw it. A large shard of glass directly behind Moon, that has heading straight for her.

Without thinking, Mask raced over to Moon and quickly pushed her out of the way, but not before the shard struck into Mask's back. He fell to the ground, writhing in pain.

Sailor Moon's eyes grew wide as she watched. "No! Tuxedo Mask!"

She raced over to him, holding his head in her hands, tears building up in her eyes. He had sacrificed himself to save her, given up his own life... Moon didn't want to think about. He was going to make it. Mask looked up at her, a faint smile on his lips as he reached one gloved hand to Moon's face. "It's up to you now to get the crystals." he whispered in a hoarse voice. Moon, words failing her, nodded. "And I want you to know...that I've always been... on your side and always will be." With one last smile, Mask's hand fell from Moon's face and his eyes closed.

"No, Tuxedo Mask, please don't go."

Sounds of footsteps approached from the other side of the room and the scouts and cats appeared, looking breathless and worried as they took in the scene before them. A gasp came from Jupiter. "That's Tuxedo Mask!" as they realized that their comrade had fallen. "It looks like we're too late." added Raye, before noticing that Tuxedo Mask, without his hat and mask, looked like Darien. "But that's..." she trailed off.

"Dear Darien, you can't go. You can't." sobbed Moon, as a solemn tear rolled down her cheek before falling to the floor. But before it could reach the floor, it stopped in midair and began to glow, astounding everyone except Moon who was still transfixed on Mask. A whooshing sound came into the room, followed by stones emitting beautiful colors. "The rainbow crystals!" Artemis realised as they came to Serena, who still took no notice. The glow grew larger as the crystals merged with each other, becoming one large, white crystal.

"The Imperium Silver Crystal!" Luna exclaimed. "What happens now?" Artemis asked. "I don't know, maybe the princess will finally be revealed." she replied, looking at Serena.

Serena finally saw the glow and looked up to see the crystal, and was transfixed by it. She stood up wearily, and reached her hands out to it. Before she could touch it, the glow emersed Sailor Moon and filled the room, before dying down to reveal Princess Serenity.

"It's Sailor Moon!"

"Shes the Moon Princess!"

"Who'da thought?"


	14. Taken

**TAKEN**

The scouts stood at the end of the room, transfixed upon the glowing Princess Serenity, their mouths open in awe. "Who would have thought that Serena of all people would turn out to be the Moon Princess? It's a total blowaway!" Jupiter exclaimed, keeping her eyes on the Princess. Mercury gave a slight nod with her head. "And what about Darien?" Her eyes turned to Tuxedo Mask, who without his mask and hat, revealed his true identity to the other girls. He was still lying on the floor, his eyes remaining closed. "I can't believe he is Tuxedo Mask!" She tore her eyes away for a second to send Mars an apologetic look. "Oh Mars, I'm sorry. You must feel terrible."

Princess Serenity's glow began to dim down as she rested upon the floor, placing Darien's head on her lap.

Mars watched the scene before her, her mind swimming with thoughts. Everything suddenly fell into place. Darien and Serena had been drawn together, what had happened on the balcony was inevitable. But had they known about their true identities, their past lives? Mars bowed her head slightly. "Thanks Mercury, but I guess they were meant to be long before Darien and I."

"Enough with all your silly chatter!"

The scout's heads turned as they remembered Zoicite's presence. She stood watching the Princess with hate-filled eyes. "I want that Imperium Silver Crystal, and I'm gonna get it." With a trademark smirk she conjured up a large energy blast and threw it towards Princess Serenity, who calmly stood up from the floor, clutching the Moon Wand in her head.

"Cosmic Moon Power."

Serenity's blast hit Zoicite, causing her to hit the wall and fall down. She returned to Darien, placing his head on her lap once more. "Darien." she said softly, her eyes filling up with tears. "I can feel you are growing weaker. Please don't go." she gave a sob. "I need you." A tear fell down Serenity's cheek, landing on Darien's. His eyes opened slowly and wide as he looked at Serenity. "You're...you're finally free, Serena." he whispered, lifting his hand up to hold hers. "I can remember things so clearly now." he added, his eyes wandering as memories flooded his mind.

Serenity nodded. "I am remembering now too." she replied, as images from the past flashed across her mind. But there were still holes,and she had a feeling that that were some important memories missing. But one crossed her mind that caused her to gasp loudly. "The locket." she exclaimed, looking down at Darien. "I gave you my star locket so you would remember me. That's the last memory I have of us together." Darien recollected the same memory, the music playing in his mind before his eyes closed again.

Serenity let out a sigh and lifted her head. "We are free." she said softly before glowing once more and detransforming back into Sailor Moon, collapsing onto Darien's chest. The scouts and cats all gasped and quickly ran over to them. "What happened?" asked Venus as she pulled Moon of Darien and into her arms. "This whole thing must have been too much for her." Luna answered, moving over to Moon and examining her face. "Check her pulse. Is she going to be alright?" Jupiter turned to look at Venus, who nodded. "I think so. Just a little fainting spell." "How princess-like." Mercury remarked. "All those memories flooding back must have overloaded her royal circuits." Artemis thought aloud, as Mars moved over to Darien.

"Come on Darien, wake up!" she gave him a shake but Darien's eyes kept shut. "It's me, Raye!" she added, but she got no response. Jupiter walked over to him and checked him over. "We gotta get him to a doctor. He needs help fast." she exclaimed, looking up at Mars who had a worried look on her face. Sure, their relationship was now over, but that didn't mean that she didn't still care for him.

"Nobodys going anywhere." The scouts looked up to see Zoicite struggling to stand up off the floor. "I hope you got a good look at your princess, because she's going back into history...you're all history." she groaned, when Malachite appeared out of nowhere and Zoicite collapsed in his arms. "Zoicite, you're trembling!" Malachite exclaimed, looking at her with horrified eyes. "Help me Malachite." Zoicite replied weakly. "Help me get them all before they escape and take the Imperium Silver Crystal with them." Malachite turned his gaze to the scouts now, rage burning in his eyes. "No they won't, they'll never find their way out of here. We'll get that crystal back, don't you worry." He now gave the scouts an evil smile, causing them to look back to him warily.

"But there's something else we've got to get too."

Jupiter stood up in a defensive pose, her eyes determined. "You'll have to deal with us first, pretty boy." Venus, Mars and Mercury also stood up, clenching their fists as they did so. "Careful Sailor Scouts." Mercury warned, her eyes watching Malachite carefully. Malachite rolled his eyes. "Cool your jets, Sailor brats, it's not you I'm interested in." He blasted the scouts with energy before turning his gaze into Darien. "He's after Darien!" Venus realized, but it was already too late. A large dark bubble encased Darien, before disappearing through the floor, taking him with it. "Darien, no!"

Malachite and Zoicite abruptly disappeared, as the scouts stared at where Darien had previously been laying. "He's gone." whispered Mars, falling to her knees.

"What are they gonna do with him?"


	15. History

**HISTORY**

"Which way, Mercury?"

The scouts stopped momentarily. They had been walking around for hours, trying ot find thier way out, but with no success. Jupiter groaned slightly, shifting the still passed-out Sailor Moon on her back. Mars looked away from the group, her mind still running around with thoughts and worry as she thought of Darien, and where he was now. Would they kill him? She didn't want to consider that possibility.

"I'm not sure you guys." Mercury sighed, looking around the area before turning on her visor. "It's hard to get readings in this place. It's like were in another dimension." Venus bowed her head. This was getting more and more frustrating by the minute, and the scouts were getting tired. "Like a time warp... thing." Luna piped up, moving by Mercury, who nodded. "Yes, it's like some kind of strange combination of time warp and negative energy, and so now I have to convert the radical readings I'm getting in here, into the same format as the original ones that got us in here. Only I'm not sure my computer has enough memory to do all of the calculations."

The area fell quiet as the scouts tried to make sense of what Mercury just said.

"And if there isn't, we'll have to guess." Jupiter replied, shifting Moon again as she did. Luna bowed her head in defeat. "That means we could be stuck wandering around this creepy cave for days." Jupiter groaned. "Either way, I'm going to need some help here." she indicated her head towards Moon. "She may be a princess, but she ain't light."

"I heard that."

"She's waking up!" The scouts gasped as Moon shifted on Jupiter's back, before opening her eyes sleepily. "She's going to be okay!" exclaimed Mercury happily as Jupiter turned her face to look at Moon. "Sailor Moon, are you alright?" "You've been out for a while." Mars added as Moon looked around and tried to take in her surroundings as the scouts watched her carefully, and Jupiter let Moon off her back. Mars approached her. "Remember where you are? Remember what happened?" she asked Moon carefully, trying to not stress her out too quickly.

Moon's eyes widened with realization as she noticed that there was one very important person missing from the group. "Tuxedo Mask! Where is he?" she looked around at her friends, but they gave her no answer. She turned to Jupiter. "Is he...is he..." No, she couldn't bear to think about that possibility. "What happened to him, why isn't he here?" Another thought creeped into her head, causing her to back away from her friends with a horrified look on her face. "Did...did you abandon him?"

"Of course not!" Mars snapped in reply, before softening her tone. "The Negaverse took him." Moon's eyes grew watery. "Was he alright?" she asked, remembering how he had saved her life, and gotten injured. "We don't know. Seems he was hurt pretty badly." Mars bowed her head, and Moon sensed that she was not the only one fearing for Darien's life. "I remember." she replied, before looking away from the scouts. "Oh Darien. What are we going to do.?"

"Okay guys, we gotta talk here." Artemis piped up, causing the scouts to look down at him. "If we're going to help Darien, you've got to understand your past." The scouts moved to sit on the ground, their legs aching from walking around. "Luna and I have remembered everything recently, along with Serena." The scouts turned to Sailor Moon, who was staring at the ground. "You knew about the identity of the Moon Princess?" Mercury asked, surprised. Luna and Artemis nodded in unison. "I've only just found out." Moon said quietly, and Mars looked at her. "When?" Moon raised her eyes to meet Mars'. "A few nights ago."

Mars looked away. Of course. The night at Darien's. Now it all made sense. How they found about the past still remained a mystery, but when they did emotion most have overwhelmed them so much that they... Mars shot Moon an apologetic smile, catching her offguard. She had been scared to face Mars after what had happened, but now that everything had been revealed, she must have understood.

The other scouts between Mars and Moon with confusion. "Did we miss something?" Venus asked, raising an eyebrow. Moon sighed. "That night, when we went to Darien's... he figured it out. Not only that I was Sailor Moon, but that I was the Princess as well." The scouts looked back at her in amazement. "We got some memories back and then... we kissed." Her cheeks going red, she looked down at the ground once more, and the scouts turned their eyes to Mars. "That explains a lot." Jupiter remarked, tilting her head to the side in deep thought.

Luna cleared her throat. "The past..." she started, trying to collect her thoughts as the scouts now turned to her. "Were we part of the Moon Kingdom too?" asked Jupiter. "Yeah Jupiter, I mean, we just gotta be!." Venus exclaimed, an enthusiastic smile on her lips. "I mean, if Sailor Moon is the princess, then we must have had important jobs too." she turned to the white cat. "Right Artemis?" "Right as usual, Venus." he replied with a nod.

"A long time ago, we all lived in a beautiful place called the Moon Kingdom. Princess Serenity lived there in the royal castle. Her mother, Queen Serenity, was a fair and gentle ruler, who was raising her daughter to follow in her footsteps. You girls were all princesses of your own respective planets, but also part of Princess Serenity's court." Mercury eyebrow's furrowed in thought. "What happened?" she asked, and the cats looked at each other. "The Moon Kingdom was destroyed, and you girls were sent to Earth with new lives, to protect you." Moon stared at the floor, positive that the cats were hiding something.

"And then, Luna and I were sent here to be your guardians, and to re-unite you." "Well, how come we don't remember any of this?" Jupiter asked, trying to make sense of what they had just been told. "It doesn't make any sense." Venus shook her head in reply. "Sure it does. In order for us to lead happy lives, we were made to forget our traumatic past lives." she thought aloud, although she couldn't think of what had been so horrible in the past to have caused this.

"But, if evil were ever to reappear here on Earth, we were made sure to reactivate the Sailor Scouts." Luna told them, looking at each girl proudly. "And now that we've got the Imperium Silver Crystal, Queen Beryl doesn't stand a chance against us!" Artemis added, trying to keep the scouts focused on their current task.

"We can beat 'em!"


	16. Power

**POWER**

"We have to defeat the Negaverse, or else our universe will be destroyed! We don't want what happened in the past to ever happen again. We've got to stand up to them, so we have a future."

Venus stood up triumphantly, her eyes shining as she tried to lift the scout's mood with her pep talk. Mars joined her, nodding. "Yeah, all together!" Mars agreed, giving Venus a high-five. "United as one!" Jupiter added as both she and Mercury joined Venus and Mars. The cats turned their eyes to Sailor Moon, who's face was hidden behind her hands. They exchanged looks before Luna moved closer to her. Serena had been reluctant to fight the other night, but did she have the same opinion now? The scouts looked down at Moon, their smiles fading. "Sailor Moon, you in?" Jupiter asked, reaching out a hand.

Sailor Moon shook her head. "Not this again." she replied, standing up and moving away from the group to collect her thoughts before turning to look at everyone, tears streaming down her face. "Tuxedo Mask is gone." she spoke softly, her eyes moving to the ground. "And I know that he's actually Darien...and he'll never call me Meatball Head again." Moon closed her eyes. She never thought that she would miss that nickname, but the more she thought about Darien, the more upset it made her. "Mercury, get us out, I wanna go home. Please."

Moon didn't realize that Mars was approaching her until a hand came flying across her face, causing more tears to flow down her face. She cowered away from Mars, clutching her cheek with both hands. "Sailor Moon." Mars began in a stern voice, causing Moon to flinch. "Even though you're a crybaby and an irresponsible whiner and..." Moon finally turned to Mars, her eyes now filled with angry tears. "Go away Mars. I don't need this now. I know you hate me. You've always hated me."

Now it was Mars' turn to cry. "That's not true." she replied, a tear falling down her cheek. "It isn't?" asked Moon, her tears coming to a stop. "I gotta say, never thought you were much of a leader. But... I know I was wrong." Mars admitted, her eyes on the ground. "Especially after the way you handled that crystal." "Yeah, you totally toasted that crud Zoicite." Artemis agreed. "A very pretty sight." Luna laughed, and the tension in the air lifted.

"Come on guys, let her be for a little while. After all, this is Serena and this is a very big deal." Mercury gave Moon and encouraging smile before turning off her visor. "And here's the good news! I've found a way out of here." she announced, turning to Luna. "Good work!" the black cat replied, before turning to Moon. "What do you say we go get some burgers and get our minds off all this." Venus turned to Moon as well. "Oh yeah, I could go for that!" she exclaimed, rubbing her belly.

"Sorry, dinner plans just got canceled!"

The scouts gasped at the sound of the familiar voice and looked up to see Malachite appear, his eyes harsher than usual and his face slightly paler. "I want that Imperium Silver Crystal!" Moon cowered slightly before the scouts all stood in front of her, keeping their eyes on Malachite. "Luna, Artemis, better run for cover now!" Venus called out to the cats, who nodded. "Be careful scouts!" "Stick together, you can beat him." And with that the cats bounded off.

Venus and Jupiter turned to each other and nodded, before combining their attacks. "Jupiter Thunder Crash!" "Venus Crescent Beam Smash!" Their energy blast hit Malachite but instead of destroying him, he absorbed it instead, flashing them his trademark smirk. "This is bad! He's sucking up any energy we throw at him! We've got to find a way to stop him!" Mercury exclaimed. "What can we do?" Mars asked, turning to her blue-haired friend.

Above them, Malachite laughed and raised his arm, conjuring a ball of energy that looked just like Venus and Jupiter's, before throwing it at them, causing them to fall to their knees. "I'm sure not giving up yet!" groaned Jupiter. "Me neither, but what can we do?" answered Venus. Malachite conjured up another ball, this one bigger. "Like I said before, NOTHING!" he yelled, throwing the ball towards them again. "Watch out!" cried Mercury and Mars, but it was too late. Venus and Jupiter fell to the ground, unmoving. Moon stepped backwards, horrified.

"Hand over the crystal unless you want to end up like your friends!" Malachite called out. Mars turned to Mercury. "Don't just stand there Mercury, get her out of here. Go on!" she told her, now turning to Moon, who looked at her with worried eyes. "You are the princess. We've got to protect you, and the Imperium Silver Crystal." she told her, before stepping closer to Malachite. "Get on with it will you." he exclaimed, and Mars' face hardened. "Fine. Mars Fire Ignite!" Mars sent her fiery blast to Malachite but once again, he simply absorbed the energy. "Pathetic! What a joke." taunted Malachite before he conjured up Mars' fire and sent ti straight back to her, causing her to the fall to the ground too.

"Step aside Mercury! It's not you I'm after." Malachite told Mercury, but she did not budge. "Go bleach your roots, creep." she replied, causing Malachite to frown. "Fine then. It's your loss." he replied, blasting her with energy as well. Mercury collapsed in Moon's arms. "Sorry Princess, he was too strong for us." Mercury said softly, before passing out. "Then I'm history." Moon said aloud, before standing up. Her eyes fell unto her friends. They were counting on her, and Sailor Moon couldn't give up now.

She took out her Moon Wand. "Come on you Nega-twit! You're history!" "Sounds like a challenge!" Malachite scoffed in return. "Say goodbye, Sailor Moon!" He raised both arms in the air and conjured up a large amount of energy. "This one's for Zoicite!" He threw the blast towards Moon, who raised her wand above her head. "Moon Cosmic Power!" Moon's glow filled the area and Malachite, realizing defeat, disappeared.

The glow died down and Moon's eyes were transfixed on her wand in awe. _Woah, where did that come from?_ she wondered. She looked up to see blue sky, and realized that they back outside. She turned around to check on her friends, who were now all awake and getting up off the ground, smiles on their faces. "Hey girl, you alright?" asked Venus. "Yeah, I'm fine." "You know, we'll always be behind you, no matter what." added Mars. "I know. Thank you."

"You really showed that guy today. I'm proud of you." Luna told Moon, her red orbs shining with pride. "You girls were all great today." Luna turned to face the other scouts. "It's going to be a tough fight, but I know we can beat the Negaverse. " Moon turned to face the water.

"Darien, wherever you are out there, I am going to find you."


	17. Tears

**TEARS**

"Serena? It's time to get up, honey."

Serena made no reply. She was curled up in the corner of her bed, her eyes sore. She hadn't slept at all, still in her clothes and had spent the entire night crying. Darien had made the ultimate sacrifice, pushing Serena out of the way of the glass shard and being struck himself. Then the Negaverse had taken him, and he was gone. Another tear slid down her face. Was he okay? Was he alive? This was all her fault.

"Serena? Molly's here." Her mother's voice wafted through the door. Serena sat up and wiped her eyes. "Thanks mom." She grabbed a tissue from her nightstand and blew her nose. The door opened and let in light, making Serena squint momentarily. "Hey Serena, whats up?" Molly appeared, closing the door behind her and reducing the room into darkness again. "It's so dark in here!" she added, proceeding to open the curtains and let the sunshine in, making Serena squint again. When had sunshine hurt so much.

Molly smiled to herself, before turning to face Serena and letting out a horrified gasp. "Serena, what happened?" she asked upon seeing her best friend's puffy eyes and red nose. Serena sighed. How was she going to tell Molly why she was so upset without revealing everything. She couldn't tell her now.

Molly sat down beside Serena and gave her a shoulder a rub. "Please, tell me." she said, and Serena could see the pleading in her eyes. "Well, there's this guy...and..." Serena broke off, trying to keep herself together. "...and he's disappeared, and I don't know where he is, or if he's okay or..." Molly gave a low whistle. "Well Serena, I didn't know that you were crushing on anyone! I'm sure he's not gone, you're probably just over-reacting." She gave Serena one of her warm smiles, who tried to return the smile but fell short.

The room fell silent until Serena's communicator went off. Molly looked around, confused. "What's that noise?" she asked, trying to figure out where it was coming from. "My new cell." Serena replied, grabbing her communicator and heading out the door. "Just a moment." She ran into the bathroom and closed the door before answering.

"Serena are you... woah, you look terrible."

"Thanks Lita. Whats up?"

"Ami just located a youma at the shopping mall."

Serena sighed. "I'll see you soon."

She returned to her room to a waiting Molly. "Molly, I'm really sorry, but I've got to go." Serena hated shutting Molly out like this, but there was no other way. "Oh. Ok then." Molly gave her a smile, but Serena could see the hurt in her eyes. "I'll see you in school on Monday." she said in a sad tone, before grabbing her brooch and heading out the door.

Once outside, she gave a sigh. She really wasn't in the mood to be fighting the Negaverse, especially since Darien... she shook her head. She had to concentrate on what was going on, and forget about him. With that thought, she headed towards to mall, running as fast as she could before going down a dark alley to transform.

"Moon Prism Power!"

As Sailor Moon neared the mall, she could hear screams, which was always a good sign - it meant that people were still conscious and still had their energy. She caught sight of Jupiter and Venus, who were fighting off the youma, who appeared to be made of fire. "We really need Mercury!" Venus exclaimed, collapsing after using most of her energy in her attack.

Moon ran up to Jupiter. "Where is Mercury and Mars?" she called out, looking around, but there were no signs of their fellow scouts. "They were across town, but I hope they get here soon." Jupiter exclaimed, panting as she collapsed to her knees. "Our attacks are doing nothing." Venus told Moon, as the youma moved closer to them.

"Moon Tiara Magic!"

Moon flung her tiara at the youma but to no avail.

"Mercury Bubble Blast!"

Mercury appeared through the mist, and nodded to Moon, who got out her Moon Wand, which now sported the rather large Imperium Silver Crystal. "Moon Healing Activation!" The youma screamed and turned back into a security guard, who proceeded to collapse. "Good job, Sailor Moon." Mars approached her and gave a a big pat on the back.

Suddenly a laugh erupted around the area, and the scouts looked up to see Malachite standing on top of the mall, watching them. "I see that you've done away with my youma." He gave Sailor Moon an evil smirk. "But don't worry, we'll be back." He went to turn around but stopped. "By the way, Sailor Moon, I thought you should know that your pal Tuxedo Mask isn't doing so well." Moon gasped. "You're lying!" she yelled back, her eyes brimming with tears again. At least he was alive, that was a positive.

"He's very weak, we're not sure how much longer he's going to last." Malachite replied. "'Til next time." And with a swish of his cape, he was gone.

Moon detransformed into Serena and collapsed to her knees.

"Darien."


	18. Determination

**DETERMINATION**

"I need you to find the Negaverse."

Luna gasped as Serena looked down at her, her eyes deadly serious. "But Serena, how.."

"I don't care. Just find it."

Artemis sighed, before turning to Luna. "I'll go and see what control has to say." Luna nodded in response before Artemis leaped out of the window. Serena sat on her bed, her face remaining serious. Luna jumped up beside her, her red orbs filled with worry. "Serena, what happened?" she asked, placing a paw on Serena's knee. "They have Darien. And he's alive." Luna felt a splash on her paw and realized Serena was now crying. "How do you know that?" she asked gently, unsure about what Serena was saying.

Serena gave a sniff. "Malachite, he... he told me... Darien is weak. That he wasn't sure how much longer..." she broke off with sobs. "I have to save him, Luna. I'm sick of just sitting here and not doing anything about it." Luna sighed. Serena's emotions were now getting in the way of her scout duty, and that was a serious problem. "Artemis is working on it. I'm sure we will find Darien soon enough." Luna replied in an reassuring voice, her mind now racing. What was she going to tell the scouts? But Serena seemed to have read her mind.

"I don't want the scouts to know."

Luna looked at Serena, her eyes wide. "But Serena, surely..."

"No. I'm not going to get anyone else involved. This is my fight, and I'm not going to lose anyone else that I love."

Luna couldn't believe her eyes. She looked like Serena, but this was a completely different person. Luna smiled in awe. She seemed to be finally becoming the true Sailor Moon, leader of the Sailor Scouts. And Luna could not have been prouder. She only wished that this sudden maturity had come under different circumstances.

Serena's communicator went off, and she sighed. Couldn't she just have one day off without the Negaverse coming and needing to be dealt with? She pressed the accept button, and Mina's face popped up. "Hey Mina, what's up?" she asked lazily, before noticing that Mina's face looked rather panicky. "I just went to get my hair cut, and the hairdresser went crazy! And it turns out she was really a youma!" Serena stood up and nodded. "I'll be right there."

Making sure that she had her brooch, Serena went to her bedroom door and turned to look at Luna. "The Negaverse." she reminded the rather surprised cat,who could do nothing but nod. And with that, Serena was flying down the stairs and on to the road. Finding another back alleyway, she quickly transformed and headed towards the local hairdressers. A loud, irritating laugh let her know that she was almost there.

Venus was struggling to keep up with the youma on her own, and was almost to the point of collapsing. Sailor Moon ran over to her and helped her on her feet, and Venus shot her a thankful smile. "Moon Tiara Magic!" Moon threw her enchanted tiara at the youma, temporarily disabling her. The sound of footsteps approached them, and Moon was ecstatic to see Jupiter, Mercury and Mars running towards them.

"Mercury Bubble Blast!"

"Mars Fire Ignite!"

"Jupiter Thunder Crash!"

They all reached Venus and Moon and gave a nod to Moon, signaling for her to use the Moon Wand. She held it above her head.

"Moon Healing Activation!"

The youma screamed and in a glow of energy, transformed back into the hairdresser. Before them, Malachite appeared, his face angry. "Well well, if it isn't Sailor Moon and her scouts." he exclaimed in a disgusted tone. "I see you've managed to defeat another of my youmas." Moon returned his angry glare. "Well maybe if you returned Darien back to me..."

Malachite laughed in response. "Well, it seems that your precious Darien doesn't want to come back to you." Moon gasped in horror. He had to be lying. "He's decided to join our side, the right side." He gave the scouts an evil smirk. "I guess you'll just have to survive without him."

Angry tears fell down Moon's face. "Oh yeah, let's just see about that!"

She flung her tiara at him, but before it could make contact, Malachite disappeared, his booming laughter echoing around them. The scouts turned to Serena, who was angrily wiping tears away. She turned to her scouts, and gave them the best smile she could. "Thanks, you guys." And with that she detransformed and headed for home.

"Serena..." Mars called out to her, but Serena kept on walking. She just wanted to be alone. When she finally reached her house, she made her way wearily up the stairs and into her bedroom, collapsing on the bed. She couldn't keep this up. It was all too much. She was almost about to fall asleep when a paw touched her face, waking her up. She sat up to see Artemis sitting beside her.

"Serena, we've found the Negaverse."


	19. Past

**PAST**

"So this is the place."

Serena, Luna and Artemis were standing outside an old computer shop that was too dark inside to see anything. Serena tried to peer in a window, but to no avail.

"Central Control said that we'd find a portal into the Negaverse here." Artemis added, as he handed Serena a small brass key. She looked down at it, confused. "Is this the key to the shop?" she asked, wondering how on earth the cat managed to get it.

"It's a spare key, left under this mat." Artemis explained, indicating with his head for Serena to open the door.

Once inside, Serena located the light switch, and took a look around. No portals to be found anywhere. She shot Artemis an annoyed look. "It's behind that bookcase." Artemis pointed a paw to a large wooden bookcase at the back of the shop, and the trio made their way to it. Serena transformed before pulling the bookcase away from the wall, to reveal a large, gaping black hole that caused them all to gasp.

"And it leads to Beryl's palace?" Sailor Moon asked, looking at the portal in awe.

"There's no way it's that easy to get in." replied Luna, watching the portal carefully as shocks of energy emerged from the portal occasionally. She looked up at Moon, her red orbs shining with worry. She didn't want anything to happen to her, especially as she seemed so determined to face Beryl alone. What if something happened? Luna looked to the floor. She refused to think about what could happen.

"Guess there's only one way to find out."

Sailor Moon gave Luna and Artemis one last smile before heading into the black gaping hole. She closed her eyes momentarily, and when she opened them, she appeared to be in some sort of large cave, the last place she would have expected to be. She hadn't walked far when a familiar laugh echoed from the walls and Malachite once again appeared before her.

"Welcome, Sailor Moon. So you've finally decided to surrender the Imperium Silver Crystal? I'll gladly take it off your hands."

Moon stood in defense. "Dream on, Negatrash. Get ready for the Negaverse to become dust!" She pulled out her wand and stood ready to attack. "Empty threats, Sailor Moon." Malachite gave her an arrogant smile, and she flinched. "We wasted Queen Serenity, and we'll do the same for you."

Sailor Moon gasped. "How do you know about Queen Serenity, huh?"

Malachite's smile grew wider. "Because I was there on that glorious day we trashed the Moon Kingdom, and I'll tell you something moon brat, you've got a lot to learn. You're no Queen Serenity."

Moon felt hot angry tears slide down her cheeks again. "Liar! She would not have sent crumbs like you into the future with us." She stared at him angrily. "You're LYING! And you're not getting my crystal!" she yelled at him before he lunged forward to grab the Moon Wand from Sailor Moon's hands, But a strange warm glow emitted from the wand, and Malachite was blown backwards, leaving Sailor Moon to find herself in a strange, yet vaguely familiar place.

"The Moon Kingdom."

"That's right Serenity." A voice echoed around Moon and she looked beside her to see a shimmering figure, who was giving her a warm smile. "Queen... Serenity." Sailor Moon uttered as her mother stood beside her. Moon instantly went down on one knee, but the Queen simply laughed. "You are a princess, Serenity, no need to bow." Sailor Moon stood up, watching the ghostly figure in awe. Was this a dream? Was she dead? The Queen seemed oblivious to her thoughts as she studied her daughter with her gentle lavender eyes.

"Oh Serenity, you are as beautiful as ever." The Queen smiled again, but there was something sad about this smile. "If you have found your way here, than I believe it is time that you learned everything." She looked towards the palace, and everything began to glow. "I'll take you back, to the final days of our kingdom."

Sailor Moon looked around. They were in the palace now, and there were hundreds of people in beautiful dresses and handsome suits, dancing and enjoying themselves. But the Queen instead escorted Moon to the balcony, and she gasped upon the sight of seeing herself, although it was Princess Serenity, leaning against the railing and staring at the Earth in the sky.

"Serenity!"

Moon felt tears well in her eyes at the sound of his voice, and saw Prince Endymion below on the lawn, his eyes shining as he saw the Princess.

"Oh Endymion, oh finally, you are here." Endymion looked down to the ground before resuming his gaze towards Serenity. "I have some bad news, Princess." "You cannot come to the ball?" Serenity guessed, but Endymion shook his head. "If it were only that Serenity."

Serenity looked worried as Endymion continued. "Terrible things are happening on Earth. An evil power is taking over there." Serenity looked down with a sigh. "Then you must go." "Yes, but by the time I get back home, it may already be too late. This Queen Beryl appeared out of nowhere, no-one knows where she came from, and her warriors are amazingly strong, maybe even unbeatable."

The clattering of guards caught Prince Endymion's attention and he turned to Serenity one last time. "Listen, I'd better go." And with that he dashed across the lawn and out of sight, leaving the Princess to watch the guards go after him.

Moon felt a tear roll down her cheek. "I remember that." she told the Queen, who could only smile sadly at her. "They thought he could have been a spy, I remember how they suspected everyone from Earth." she wiped the tear away as the Queen indicated for her to return inside the palace, to see the Princess making her way down the stairs, only to be stopped by a very familiar masked man. "Princess, may I have this dance?" he asked the Princess, who blushed happily. "Could be our last one." Prince Endymion replied, and the Princess' smile faltered slightly.

Endymion led Serenity to the dancefloor, and pulled her close. "I'm so happy you came back." The Princess told him as they swayed to the music. "I couldn't leave without having one last dance with you." Endymion replied, swinging her out. "I'm afraid... all of this is going to change, Serenity. This Beryl, she's more dangerous than I thought. The whole universe is in danger." He pulled Serenity back in again. "Even the Moon?" she asked, gazing up at him. Endymion nodded. "Especially the Moon."

He dipped the Princess as he continued. "Beryl plans to take over the whole universe, and to do that she must first conquer the Moon. You have to prepare for the worst, Serenity." Endymion pulled Serenity in close so that her head was resting on his chest. "Your mother knows I'm not a spy. She's asked me to stay and help defend her kingdom.

Moon let out a long breath. She remembered that conversation, that dance. Everything was beginning to get clearer. She turned to the Queen, who smiled at her again. "You really loved him." The Queen told her, reaching a ghostly hand to Moon's face. She shivered slightly at the cold touch, and the Queen let her hand fall, before leading her outside once more.

Serenity and Endymion, minus his mask and hat, were facing each other. "Oh Endymion, I cannot believe this is happening." said Moon sadly, her hands clasped together. "Queen Beryl is relentless and she'll destroy absolutely everything that's in her way to get exactly what she wants. I'll fight as hard as I can." He took one of Serenity's hands into his own. "But you must know, I might not come back. I just hope you know how much you mean to me."

Serenity moved closer to him, her eyes shining with tears. "I do." she replied. "You're in my heart." Endymion added, pulling Serenity closer to him. "And you will always be in mine." Serenity leaned towards him, and they kissed. A tear fell down Serenity's cheek and Moon felt one slide down hers as well.

But Sailor Moon had no time to cry for she heard a large rumble of what sounded like thunder and a large, dark cloud headed straight for the moon, coming from Earth. Moon heard Artemis and Luna's voices as they ran through the palace.

"We're under attack! Under attack!" "Get ready for battle! We need everyone we can get to fight!"


	20. Sacrifice

**SACRIFICE**

The sky tuned black and Moon tried to make sense of what was going on. She didn't remember any of this, what on Earth was going on? She turned to the Queen for answers, but the Queen stayed silent, watching as the cloud grew closer and closer and then exploded in a glow of energy, causing havoc to the palace and surrounding buildings. A large face appeared in the sky, cackling evilly and making Moon shudder.

"Mercury Bubble Blast!"

"Mars Fire Ignite!"

"Jupiter Thunder Crash!"

"Venus Crescent Beam Smash!"

Moon looked down to see four familiar figures. Were these her scouts, or the scouts of the past? Her thoughts were answered as they aimed their attacks at the face in the sky, who only laughed. "Pathetic humans, I will vanquish you!" And with a large shock of black electricity, the scouts were struck and fell to the ground. Moon gasped in horror. No wonder she didn't remember any of this, she had probably blocked it from her memory.

Moon heard more laughter and looked up to see a tall woman with a mane of red hair in a purple dress standing upon a rock, and assumed that this was the dreaded Beryl. As her warriors rushed towards the palace, Beryl laughed again. "Very soon, the entire universe will be under my control. I'll have Queen Serenity begging for mercy. No-one can defeat the power of the Nega-force! The universe is no longer!" She raised her staff above her head and it began to glow with energy, causing more damage to the surrounding buildings. "Only the Negaverse will prevail!"

Moon looked down at Beryl's minions, shocked to see four familiar faces - Jedite, Nephrite, Zoicite and of course, Malachite, who began to laugh evilly as buildings and columns collapsed around them.

Moon turned to look at Serenity, who stood still on the balcony, watching the destruction around her. Suddenly, Beryl appeared in the air in front of her with a flash of red light, causing the Princess to gasp. "Well, if it isn't little miss Moon Princess. All dressed up and no place to go, except, OBLIVION!" Beryl headed towards the Princess with her hand outreached but then a rose flew towards them and hit Beryl's hand, causing her to back off. "Who are you?" she hissed to the darkness.

Endymion appeared, his red cape flying in the wind. "I am Prince Endymion, sworn to defend the Moon Kingdom against evil like you." he replied, determination on his face. "Prince Endymion, from Earth? I've heard of you. You have great promise." Beryl replied, as Endymion moved in front of the Princess. "Well, I can see why she'd hang on to you. But you're wasting your time with this twit. Why not come taste the joy of winning, Endymion, we'll rule the Negaverse together!"

"Thanks but no thanks Beryl. Why would I want to join forces with a snake like you? All twisted and ugly and full of bitterness." Endymion retorted, disgusted. Beryl's smile disappeared. "No-one ever speaks to Queen Beryl like that!" she yelled, and the face in the sky emitted another blast of energy, this one pulling Endymion into the sky, away from Serenity.

"Endymion, what is happening?" Serenity watched as Endymion flew into the air. "Run, Serenity, just run!" Endymion called to her, trying his best to return to the ground. Serenity ran towards him. "No Endymion, I want to be with you!" she cried. "No you can't! Serenity, don't!" Endymion called before she jumped off the balcony into the air towards him. "Serenity!"

She flew towards him, their hands reaching each other, barely inches from each other before Endymion managed to grasp Serenity's hand. But the face in the sky had other plans, and broke them apart, and Serenity and Endymion both fell limp in the air.

Back on the ground, Moon gasped as tears fell down her cheeks. She had just witnessed her own death, and the incredible power of the love that she and Darien once had in their past lives. She turned to Queen Serenity, who had silent tears of her own.

She saw the Queen, this time the real Queen, running across the debris with Luna and Artemis in tow to where her daughter and Prince Endymion lay motionless in the air. "Serenity! No! She's taken them both!" Tears fell freely from her face as Beryl began to cackle again.

"Perfect! The pretty twit and her prince are gone! And the snake survives. They'll never mess with me again!"

Back on the ground, Queen Serenity collapsed onto her knees. "No! Serenity! No it can't be!" She sat up and looked at her daughter. "Don't worry darling, I won't let it end this way." She pulled out the Moon Wand from her dress and looked down at it. "I won't let them take away your future."

Luna looked up at the Queen, her red orbs shining with tears. "Queen Serenity, if you use the Imperium Silver Crystal, you won't have any strength left." The Queen continued to look at the wand. "It's the only way, Luna. I must sacrifice my kingdom if we are to regain our peace." The Queen then stood up, holding the wand above her head. "Cosmic Moon Power!"

Beryl turned to see the glow emitting from the wand. "What is this?" she yelled, as pink orbs headed straight for the face in the sky where it exploded. "You can't do this to me!" screamed Beryl as she was hit. "You haven't seen the last of me!" she yelled before disappearing into the pink glow.

The glow then died down, and the night sky could be seen again, but the kingdom was eerily quiet, with bodies and buildings strewn across the ground. Queen Serenity collapsed against a pillar. Luna and Artemis rushed to her side. "Majesty, you did it!" Luna gushed proudly. "They're gone, you beat them!" added Artemis, wiggling his tail. The Queen held the Imperium Silver Crystal in her hand.

"I trapped them all, yes. If I had destroyed them, I would have destroyed Serenity and the others too." She held up the crystal and looked sadly at it. "Now they're all inside the power of the crystal. And now I must send them to a new future on Earth." The Queen looked away as tears fell down her cheeks once more. "But you saved them, why are you so sad?" Luna asked, a worried look on her face.

"Because none of them will remember anything about this time or this place, nothing. And I'll never see my sweet daughter again. Or you two, either." She held up the Moon Wand. "But this is the only way for any of you to live on. I have enough power left to send everything you'll need in the future to Earth. Serenity and her court will need your help if the Negaverse ever breaks free." Luna and Artemis nodded their heads in unison. "Yes."

"All of you will be reborn on Earth, with no memory of the Moon Kingdom whatsoever. But if evil forces should try to repeat what happened here, you two will know what to do." The Queen raised the crystal once more and it floated up into the sky. "Now farewell, all of you, and good luck. Goodbye Serenity, you are in my heart always."

The crystal let out a glow, and the bodies of everyone, Serenity, Endymion, the scouts, even the Moon Kingdom warriors, floated up into the sky. Sailor Moon watched in amazement as they headed towards the Earth. "Be happy." whispered the Queen. "On behalf of the Moon, you will be free again." and with that, the Queen closed her eyes and lay motionless, and Sailor Moon felt tears again.

"Queen Serenity!" cried out Luna and Artemis, as the Moon Wand dropped from the Queen's hand and placed the cats into bubbles, and they joined everyone else and headed towards the Earth.

Sailor Moon turned to the Queen, who looked at her with shining eyes. "You gave your life for everyone." Moon whispered, her voice hoarse as tear flowed freely down her face. "It is time for you to go now, Serenity." The Queen gave her a sad smile. "What no! I'll never see you again!" Moon cried out, but it was too late. The warm glow emitted once more, and Sailor Moon found herself back in the cave. But only seconds later she heard Artemis and Luna yowling in pain, and knew something was wrong.

She turned a corner to see Malachite using his electricity on Artemis, with Luna having already collapsed on the ground. Artemis fell beside Luna, and Sailor Moon was horrified. They had followed her into the portal, and now they were paying the price. This is exactly what Moon had not wanted to happen. "This is low. Even for a slime like you." she exclaimed, causing Malachite to turn around and become aware of her presence. "You can't blame me brat! They're the ones who trained you to be as annoying as you are." Malachite replied in a disgusted tone.

"Well why don't I show you just what Luna and Artemis really taught me?" replied Serena, getting out her wand once more. Before Malachite could retort she raised her wand high in the air. "Cosmic Moon Power!" she yelled! And the crystal glowed as brightly as ever. Malachite s smug smile disappeared as he was hit with energy. "No!" he yelled, trying to use his cape to cover him. "I am not letting this Moon child defeat me! She's no match for the Nega-power!"

Malachite opened his cape to reveal a large sharp object of energy that he threw at Sailor Moon. But Moon was ready. She hit the object with her still-glowing wand and it rebounded, hitting Malachite in the chest. "Oh!" he cried out as he was hit. "I'm...losing strength." He collapsed to his knees. "Zoicite." he called out. "It's me. I'll be coming to join you real soon, Zoicite. Do you hear me?" And with that Malachite fell, turning into bubbles of energy and fading away.

Sailor Moon breathed a sigh of relief. Malachite was finally gone. Luna and Artemis opened their eyes and looked at Moon. "Good job, Serena, you wasted Malachite." Luna said, although weak. "Yeah, just like your mother." Artemis added proudly, trying his best to stand up. Moon rushed over to them. "Luna, Artemis, what were you thinking, going up against him like that?" she asked Luna, picking her up in her arms. "It wasn't really our choice, he surprised us." Luna explained, trying to move. "Why did you go through the portal?" Moon added, picking up Artemis as well. "We were trying to find you, so we could help." Artemis answered, flinching in pain as Moon brought them back to the portal. Please guys, stay out of here. I don't want anyone else getting hurt." Moon pleaded with the cats before setting them down on the shop floor.

"Now I have to go and find Beryl." she told them, before walking through the portal. Her mind was still swimming from all the past memories that she had experienced. But before she could think about anything else, a large red ball of energy engulfed her and took her.

"Hey! Where am I? GET ME OUT OF HERE!"


	21. Love

**LOVE**

"Sailor Moon, how nice of you to drop in."

Moon rubbed her head and winced. Where on Earth was she? One minute, she had been just near the portal into the Negaverse, and then a large red bubble had engulfed and dropped her - literally - in this dark place. She stood up and looked around before the voice spoke again.

"Welcome to my Negaverse."

A figure appeared from the shadows, and Moon gasped. She had seen this person before, in the Moon Kingdom. "You're...you're Queen Beryl." Moon's eyes widened in horror as she took in her surroundings. Somehow, she had managed to get herself into what seemed to be Beryl's castle. Now all she had to do was destroy Beryl, find Darien and restore the universe. It didn't seem that hard. But Beryl seemed to have other ideas.

"Yes." she replied, giving a smile that sent shivers down Moon's back. "And you remember Prince Endymion." Moon gasped as the shadows shifted to reveal Darien, or more Prince Endymion, kneeling beside Beryl, his lips upon her hand. Moon watched him, horrified. "What have you done to him?" Moon cried out, not believing what she was seeing. But Beryl ignored her question, and turned to Darien.

"Prince Endymion, I want that Imperium Silver Crystal NOW." Beryl demanded, and Darien's eyes opened, his eyes no longer thier sapphire blue, but instead a glowing red, and Moon realized that this wasn't her Darien, he was under the control of Beryl. "Consider it done, my queen." Darien replied, turning towards Moon, who had silent tears falling down her face as she watched him.

"Its been sweet, Sailor Moon."

Darien kept his eyes on Moon, who was watching him carefully, trying to anticipate what he was going to try and do. Her Darien would never attack her, not in a million years. But to her horror, he carefully pulled out his sword, and suddenly leaped up in the air, brandishing his sword. She quickly rolled out of the way, getting out her Moon Wand.

"Moon Healing Activation!"

Tears streaming down her face, Moon was determined to get the old Darien back. The attack was working, she knew that, but Darien seemed to be unaffected, his eyes still red. Beryl cackled in the background. "Its no use you cant heal him! Not even your crystal can break the spell I've cast." Moon shook her head as Beryl continued to speak. "Prince Endymion is mine now and forever!" Beryl cackled again.

Without warning, Darien leaped up in the air once more, his sword gleaming. "Darien!" Moon cried before she was struck, dropping her wand and falling to the ground in pain. But she was more hurt because it was Darien who had attacked her, the last thing she had expected. The attack had not worked, and Moon was running out of options. She saw her wand lying on the ground near her and she reached her hand out to get it. "Oh, my wand." she exclaimed wearily, her fingers barely inches from the wand but it was no use.

Beryl smiled as she watched Moon's attempts. "Its mine, as it was meant to be. Your mother managed to keep it from me for a time, but now at last its mine! Your universe will be no more, only the Negaverse ruled by Prince Endymion and me!" she boasted, raising her hands in the air before turning her gaze onto Darien, who seemed to be awaiting more orders. "Now Endymion, get me that crystal, and get rid of her. She's caused me enough aggravation."

Darien nodded as Moon attempted one last time to reach her wand, but to no avail. Moon started to get up as Darien prepared to strike her once more, but her tiara began to glow. "I know she's wrong about you Darien, you're not evil." Moon exclaimed, before striking Darien with her tiara, causing him to fall down in pain. Please let this work, she begged in her mind. She didn't want to have hurt him, but it seemed necessary to stop him from attacking her again. Tears flowed freely as she watched Darien in pain, and was shocked when he tried to stand back up again.

"I warned you, you can't turn him against me. His mind belongs to the Negaverse now, he'll never turn against his queen," Beryl told Moon smugly, as Darien managed to get to his feet and turned his red eyes to Moon. "Goodbye Sailor Moon." He grunted, raising his sword, but Moon sat still, her crystalline orbs shining with hope. "Darien." she began, trying to stay strong. "She may have your mind, but your heart belongs to me. You remember, don't you?"

Darien's eyes did not falter. "You are the enemy." he replied. Moon shook her head. "No I'm not." This was her last chance. She pulled out the star-shaped locket, and opened it up. The melody filled the air as she held it out to Darien in her hands. "Look Darien, it's our locket. Don't destroy it, remember. It's our locket, a symbol of everything we've shared. All those happy times on the moon. Don't let her take all of that away from us again, Darien." Moon was giving this all she had. If this failed, she would never get back Darien.

"It's me, Darien. Princess Serenity. I've come to set you free again. Just like I promised." Darien's eyes remained red, but he did not move, and stood still, transfixed by the music. Sailor Moon took her chance and stood up, placing her lips on Darien's and hoping that it would work. Within seconds she was blown away, and Darien began to glow. "Traitor! How dare you!" Beryl called out but Moon watched him in awe, as the glow grew larger and larger, before absorbing the room and exploding.

As the light died down, Darien dropped his sword and collapsed on the floor and Moon rushed over to him. "Oh Darien." She cried, as he opened his eyes to reveal sapphire blue orbs once more. "Thank you." Moon looked down at him. "I'm free." Moon smiled and cradled his head in her hands. "Oh I know, Darien. I know."

Beryl began to grow restless. "Thats so sweet, I'm getting cavities." She conjured up a large dark crystal and glared at the oblivious Sailor Moon and Darien. "This sailor brat isn't going to insult me in my own place." She then threw the crystal towards the two, who turned around to see the crystal and gasped. "YOU ARE MINE!" screamed Beryl before Darien stood up and flung a rose, shattering the crystal and striking Beryl in the chest.

But the shards of crystal headed towards Moon, and Darien quickly pulled her to the floor and turned his back to the shards, and was struck. Beryl, on the otherside of the room, fell to her knees. "You haven't seen the last of me." she exclaimed before fading into the floor. "You got her." Sailor Moon turned to Darien, before realizing that he had been hit. "Oh Darien! Answer me!" Darien looked up at her. "I'll...I'll find a way back to you." he groaned, trying to give her a smile. Moon returned the smile through tears. "Hey, you can call me Meatball Head." Darien let out a laugh and Moon leaned down for one last kiss.

Darien's body went limp.


	22. Battle

**BATTLE**

Sailor Moon found her way outside the castle, shivering in the icy wind. She felt like there were no tears left after saying goodbye to Darien once more. She had finally found him and lost him all over again. And once again, he had given his life to save hers. It had been hard to just leave him behind, but Moon had other matters to attend to. She was more determined then ever to finally defeat Queen Beryl and destroy the Negaverse. And she knew that she had the power, and was capable of doing it.

She began to think about her friends, the scouts, Luna and Artemis, and Molly. Moon hoped that they were safe. While she wished that that Mina, Lita, Ami and Raye were by her side right now, she knew that fighting Beryl alone meant their safety. After losing Darien, she couldn't bear to lose anyone else that she cared about. Now all she had left to do was to track down Beryl.

Her thoughts were answered when an explosion of black energy appeared before her, fading to reveal a new Queen Beryl, this time monstrous and seemingly more powerful. But Sailor Moon continued on walking towards her, unfazed. There was no going back now, she was going to end this thing right here and now, for Darien, for her friends, for her mother and for the the universe. Above Moon, the monstrous Beryl gave a booming laugh as she explored her new surroundings.

"Better enjoy that laugh, Beryl, it's the last one you'll ever have." Beryl looked down to see Sailor Moon heading towards her. "You'll never rule the universe as long as I live." Moon added in a dead tone, coming to stop in the snow as she looked up at Beryl, who gave her a smug smile in return. "We'd better get this thing over with then." she replied, her eyes never leaving Moons. "Let's get to it." answered Moon, still not moving.

"You don't know what you're up against." Beryl grinned as she raised up one hand. "Goodbye, Sailor Moon." And with that she blasted an ice-beam towards Moon, who remained motionless as the beam hit, turning into a large mountain of ice. Beryl laughed before the top of the mountain opened up, revealing someone very familiar to Queen Beryl, who made her eyes grow wide.

"I will defeat you Beryl, in the name of the Moon." Princess Serenity stood poised and ready, the Moon Wand in her hands. "You? Pitiful little Princess Serenity?" Beryl scoffed in return, but did not let down her guard. "I am not afraid anymore." Serenity closed her eyes. "You should be!" yelled Beryl, preparing to attack.

Serenity raised the wand above her head. "Cosmic Moon Power!" she called out, and the crystal emitted a pink glowing energy that headed straight for Beryl, who retaliated with a large burst of black electric energy. "Fight this evil." Serenity whispered, putting all her strength into the wand. Suddenly, a pair of ghostly hands grasped on to the wand and Serenity gasped. "Do not give up Serenity, you can do this." "Endymion." " she whispered back, feeling the energy of her lover boost the power of her attack. "I believe in you." Endymion added, and Serenity could feel his presence so strongly.

"I am not letting you win this one you witch!" she yelled to Beryl, who pushed her energy more in reply. "My friends are counting on me." Serenity cried, a tear sliding down her face. She pushed her energy further, but was beginning to feel drained. She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep going, even with Endymion's presence helping her. Serenity needed the scouts more than ever.

"Mercury Power!"

"Mars Power!"

"Jupiter Power!"

"Venus Power!"

Serenity gasped as all four scouts appeared next to her. What were they doing here? Were they really here, or just ghostly presences like Endymion? Her thoughts were answered as she felt each scout take a hold on the Moon Wand, adding their power to hers, their hands warm. Serenity smiled. Her friends were always there when she needed them most. She felt the immense power that was left, and put it all into the wand.

"Moon Cosmic Power!" she shouted again, and with the combined energy the attack grew larger absorbed Beryls. "This can't be! NO!" screamed Beryl before she was engulfed by the pink energy, which then faded. The scouts and Serenity then collapsed, but Serenity's voice echoed around them. "Beryl is gone, and blasted back into the Negaverse. The universe is safe again thanks to you, my friends. Finally, we have a chance for peace."

"Real peace."


	23. Final

**FINAL**

"Oh no! I'm going to be late! Why didn't anyone wake me up!"

Serena hastily threw on her school uniform and grabbed her bag before heading down the stairs, almost tripping over as she did so. "Thanks for my lunch Mom!" she called out to her mother as she picked up her lunch and put on her shoes, before running out the door. It seemed like every single day started like this, with her sleeping in and then being late from school. She saw Molly up the street and ran towards her, breathing heavily as she did.

"Good morning Serena! I see you slept in again." exclaimed Molly, a huge smile on her face. "I didn't mean to." grumbled Serena in return, checking her hair so see that her buns were in prefect condition. "You look a lot happier at least." Molly replied, watching her friend. Serena turned to Molly with a confused face. "I was upset?" Molly's smile faltered. "Wow Serena, that must have been some good sleep you had."

Serena had barely made it into her classroom when the school bell rang, and she was off day-dreaming as usual. At lunch, she turned to Molly and pointed to two girls, one with long blond hair like her own and the other tall one with brown hair in a high ponytail. "Who are they?" Molly's mouth opened in surprise. "That's Mina Aino and Lita Kino. I thought you were good friends with them." Serena shook her head. "I've never seen them before in my life." she replied, before returning to her lunch. Molly sat beside her, her mind churning. There was something odd about Serena today. At least, more odd than usual.

When the last bell rang at the end of the day, Serena was the first one to stand up and grab her bag. "Come on Molly, lets go to the arcade!" Molly smiled in return. "Sounds good to me!" The two girls headed out of the school and down the road, before being interrupted by Melvin. "Hello ladies!" he exclaimed, giving a wink to Molly who blushed. "Buzz off, Melvin." Serena replied in a annoyed voice, and Molly looked at her, surprised.

"Serena, Melvin and I are... well... we're..." "Dating." Melvin finished Molly's sentence proudly. Serena stared at them in horror. "When did this happen?" she asked, looking at Molly with wide eyes, who frowned. "A few weeks ago, Serena. Don't you remember?" Serena shook her head. Molly cocked her head to the side, deep in thought. "Are you sure you're okay, Serena?"

Serena looked down at the ground. What had happened? She felt like she had missed so much of the last few months altogether. "I feel fine." she replied slowly, trying to make sense of the situation. "Well, we'd better be going to the arcade." She began walking again, followed by Molly and Melvin who watched her in silence. Serena tried to think back to when Molly and Melvin got together. There was something in the back of her mind that told her that she was aware of the relationship, but apart from that Serena couldn't remember a thing. What else had she forgotten?

"Here we are!" announced Molly, and Serena looked up to see the arcade sign. Bouncing inside, she saw Andrew and waved to him. "Hi Andrew! How are you?" she moved up to him. "Hey Serena! I'm doing great, although missing Rita quite a bit. How was school?" Serena's face went blank. "Who's Rita?" she asked, and Andrew looked at her in surprise. "My girlfriend, don't you remember?" Serena winced in thought. There was another thing she had forgotten. "Oh yeah." she replied, looking away to see a flyer on the wall.

"Hey, what's this?" she asked Andrew, going up to it and reading. "The local community college is putting on a play - Sleeping Beauty. They're looking for people to be in it." A play? Serena grinned with enthusiasm. She could picture herself as Sleeping Beauty, asleep, waiting for her Prince to come and kiss her... "My friend Darien is in it. You should go check it out." Serena's daydream faded. Darien. That name seemed familiar somehow. She turned to Molly and Melvin. "what do you say, guys?" she asked, throwing them a wide smile.

A few minutes later the trio arrived outside of the local theater, with the same flyers that Serena had seen at the arcade posted all over the windows. "Come on guys, lets go check it out!" she turned to Molly and Melvin with an excited smile. They walked inside to see a group of girls, all waiting below the stage. A woman with thick red hair approached them with a big smile. "Why hello there. My name is Simone. Are you here to audition for the part of Sleeping Beauty?" Serena looked back at Molly. "Do you want to audition too?" Molly nodded. "Sounds like fun!" Serena turned back to Simone, who indicated for them to take a seat. "We'll be getting started soon."

Serena looked around at her competition. She was surprised to see not only Mina and Lita, the girls Molly had told her about at lunch, but also Ami Mizuno, the school's brainiest girl, who looked very nervous and slightly out of place. Serena turned her eyes to a girl at the back, with long raven hair and dark eyes. She was one of the prettiest girls Serena had ever seen. Suddenly the lights on the stage came on, and a figure stepped out of the shadows making Serena gasp.

He was the most hunkiest guy she had ever seen, with his dark hair and sapphire blue eyes. Very tall and slightly older, but Serena didn't care. He was gorgeous. "Hi girls." he said into the microphone, blushing as the girls squealed and screamed. "My name is Darien and I'm going to be playing Prince Charming." So this was Darien. Serena cocked her head in thought as the girls around squealed again. "Today, we're going to be doing the awakening scene." Darien winced. That meant there was going to be a lot of kissing.

"So first up, we have, uh, Margaret." A short, stubby girl with brown pigtails went up onto stage, and Serena sat back in her chair. She had come in rather late, and there were a lot of girls ahead of her. She laughed as Margaret almost attacked Darien instead of kissing him, and turned to Molly, who had joined in with the laughter. "This is going to be great." she whispered, as another girl went up on stage.

A few more girls later, Ami went up onto the stage, but stopped. "I'm sorry, but I can't do this." she blushed as Darien gave her a warm smile. "It's alright, no pressure." Ami returned the smile and went back to sit in the audience. "Lita? You're next." Darien called out, and the tall girl went up on stage, making Serena giggle since they were almost the same height. "You know, you look a lot like my old boyfriend." Lita told Darien, make him blush slightly. "Ah, okay then."

Next up was Mina, the blonde one, who blushed the entire time, followed by raven-haired girl. "Alright, next up is Raye." Serena watched in awe as Raye laid down on the bed, and as Darien leant in to kiss her, she seemed to get a little too into it, making Darien break apart, gasping for air. "Next!" he breathed, as Raye went off stage and into the audience with a smirk. Molly stood up. "That's me!" she exclaimed, making her way onto the stage. "Good luck!" yelled Serena and Melvin in unison, although as Darien leaned down to kiss Molly, Melvin started to shake with jealously.

"And last but not least, we have Serena!" As she heard her name, Serena's cheeks flushed red and she made her way onto the stage, her eyes on Darien the entire time. She could see him watching her as well, the same curiosity written on his face. Serena took her place on the bed, and closed her eyes. This didn't seem so hard. She heard Darien recite his lines, and then prepared herself for his kiss.

She felt his warm breath on her face, and then his lips upon hers. The next thing she knew, a warm glow had appeared between them and expanded through the whole room, and Serena fell silent as memories came rushing through her mind, of Sailor Moon, the Moon Kingdom, Tuxedo Mask, the scouts, the Negaverse, Beryl, everything. Her eyes burst open as she and Darien broke apart, and she sat up, looking at him with wide eyes. "Darien?" she said in a small voice, hoping that he was her Darien, and that he had remembered everything as well. Darien grinned at her.

"Hey, Meatball Head."


	24. End Note

**END NOTE**

If you have reached this end note, then you have finished my story. I really hope that you enjoyed it.

I would like to thank everyone who has read this story as well as my others, especially those who first read this back in 2004 and have been eagerly awaiting the end for years. I'm sorry that it took so long!

Remember to read and review, as they are very much loved. :D

Please do check out my other work, and enjoy!

-Princezsupastar


End file.
